§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many UK pensioners live in each of the other member states of the European Union; and how much in total is spent on benefit payments to pensioners in each of these countries. [177905]
§ Malcolm WicksThe table shows the number of people receiving the UK State Pension as at September 2003 and the estimated benefit expenditure for 2003–04 in each of the EU countries:
£ Country Number of people receiving UK State Pension Estimated expenditure Austria 4,600 5,500,000 Belgium 4,400 7,360,000 Cyprus 7,800 24,540,000 Czech Republic 100 320,000 Denmark 1,200 2,460,000 Estonia Nil or negligible Finland 500 1,210,000 France 24,600 75,010,000 Germany 29,400 38,100,000 Greece 2,200 7,070,000 Hungary 400 1,040,000 Ireland 93,800 203,350,000 Italy 29,500 52,740,000 Latvia 100 320,000 Lithuania 100 210,000 Luxembourg 200 630,000 Malta 3,000 8,630,000 Netherlands 6,600 9,760,000 Poland 1,600 3,250,000 Portugal 5,000 16,140,000 Slovak Republic Nil or negligible Slovenia 100 200,000 Spain 57,700 185,990,000 Sweden 1,600 3,060,000 Notes: 1Caseloads are rounded to the nearest hundred. 2 Caseloads less than 500 are subject to a high degree of sampling variation and should be treated with caution. The associated expenditure figures are also subject to a high degree of sampling variation and should be treated likewise. 3 Expenditure figures have been rounded to the nearest £10,000. 4 Ten countries joined the EU on 1 May 2004. People receiving the UK State Pension in Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Slovak Republic did not receive annual uprating before this date. In addition, certain benefits would not have been paid in these countries before 1 May 2004. On enlargement the bilateral Social Security agreements that apply to Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia have been largely superseded by EU legislation. The figures for Cyprus cover all UK State Pension recipients on the island of Cyprus. Source: IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent., sample based on September 2003 DWP administrative data.