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The aim of this study is to analyse the growing importance of international retirement migration (IRM) by focusing on the differences among the British, German and Nordic expatriate communities living on the Costa Blanca, Spain. The first section discusses recent developments in the study of IRM and outlines the objectives of this article. Next, the methodology is presented. The third section reports the results of a survey conducted among older British, German and Nordic residents in the study area of Torrevieja. It is shown that there are significant differences among the three national groups, particularly in their socio-demographic and economic backgrounds, residential choices and patterns of mobility. The conclusions emphasise the need for further research on cross-national and inter-local differences in IRM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last two decades, northern European retirement residence in the southern European sunbelt has grown strongly and its forms have rapidly changed, but standard demographic and social statistical sources provide no information about the flows, the migrants or their increasingly mobile and complex residential patterns. Considerable primary research has however recently been undertaken into the causes, conditions, experiences and consequences of international retirement migration (IRM) by investigators from Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Many collaborated when designing their studies and instruments, and all have subsequently worked together in a European Science Foundation Scientific Network. This paper compares the findings of six systematic social surveys in (to be more precise than the title) eight regions of southern Europe and the Canary Islands: all have tackled similar research questions with similar methods and instruments. It presents interpretations of several comparative tables compiled from their original data, with a focus on the socio-economic backgrounds, motivations and behaviour of the various migrant groups and their relationship with the host and home countries. The paper presents new findings about the typical and variant forms of IRM, and additional understanding of the heterogeneity of the retirees of different nations and in the several regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]