Retiring in Guadeloupe: Pension, Access to Care, Taxation, Cost of Living and Places to Live

According to Légifrance’s legislative drafting guide, Guadeloupe is an overseas department and region governed by Article 73 of the Constitution: laws and regulations apply there as of right. A French retiree therefore needs no visa, no residence permit and no proof of resources to live there. The procedures are those of a move within France: the online change-of-address declaration notifies the health insurance fund, the tax office and the family allowance fund, while the pension fund, the mutual insurer, the bank and the insurers are notified separately (service-public.gouv.fr).

For personal belongings and any vehicle, customs specifies that Guadeloupe is a third territory for tax purposes: a shipment from mainland France is treated as an import, with a customs declaration and octroi de mer (a local levy on goods). The guide living in Guadeloupe details these formalities.

According to the CGSS of Guadeloupe, the general social security funds carry out in the overseas departments the missions of the pension branch of the general scheme, the Cnav (the national old-age insurance fund) being the national body. The CGSS website offers insured people a virtual pension branch, the career statement, information on retirement age and amount, payment terms and dates, procedures and help for ageing well, as well as pension social action. The Assurance Retraite receives visitors by appointment on 39 60 in the CGSS branches.

A retiree who moves to Guadeloupe notifies their pension fund of their change of address; their pension continues to be paid by the schemes they come under, with no international coordination form since the transfer takes place within the national territory. For State pensioners, a specific arrangement exists for certain territories: the temporary retirement allowance is reserved for pensioners who live in Réunion, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon or Mayotte, according to the State pensions service; Guadeloupe is not on that list.

The legal retirement age depends on the year of birth. The Assurance Retraite page indicates notably: 62 for people born from January to August 1961 (168 quarters), 62 and 6 months for 1962 (169 quarters), 62 and 9 months for 1963 (170 quarters), 63 for 1964 (171 quarters), 63 and 3 months for 1965 (172 quarters), then 63 and 6 months for 1966, 63 and 9 months for 1967 and 64 from 1968, with 172 quarters. The full rate is acquired automatically at 67 for people born from 1955. The page also presents the forecast trend for the following generations and refers to the online service “Obtain my retirement age”.

These rules are national: they do not change because you live in Guadeloupe. The calculation of the pension and the pension application are made with the funds to which the insured person has contributed; the CGSS provides information on age, amount and the career statement.

The retiree is covered on the basis of their stable and lawful residence in France. CLEISS (the French centre for European and international social security liaison) specifies that the opening of rights is not automatic where there is no occupation, cover based solely on residence, or arrival in France: Cerfa form S1106 must be filled in and sent to the CGSS, the fund of the place of residence. The Assurance Maladie (French national health insurance) indicates that, in case of inspection, you must be able to show 6 months of residence in France over the last 12 months. Form S1 (or E 121), which lets a retiree receive care in another European Union country, concerns only departure to a foreign country: it is not applicable to Guadeloupe.

The general scheme base rates are 70% for medical fees, 80% for hospitalisation, 60% for dental and optical, with a €2 flat-rate contribution on general practitioner consultations. Beneficiaries of the FSV or of Aspa have medical fees, dental and optical reimbursed at 80%, and transport at 100% (Assurance Maladie). A consultation tariff of €36 for a sector 1 general practitioner is reimbursed €23.20 within the care pathway. The hospital daily charge is €23 a day; it remains borne by the insured person or their supplementary cover. The guide healthcare reimbursement in Guadeloupe details each item and each status.

The Complémentaire Santé Solidaire is available subject to means: in the overseas departments, the annual ceiling is €11,599 for a single person for free cover and €15,659 with a contribution; for a couple, €17,398 and €23,488 (service-public.gouv.fr). When the care required is not available locally, medical transport can be covered subject to prior approval equivalent to a medical prescription, and the companion’s costs under conditions. A retiree who later left France to settle abroad would come under the rules in the CFE guide (the Assurance Maladie specifies that on departure outside the European Union, the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, healthcare costs are no longer covered by the French Assurance Maladie).

The old-age solidarity allowance (Aspa) is generally open from age 65 (62 for early retirement for a long career or for disability), subject to stable residence in France. The maximum monthly amount, revised every year, is higher for a couple where both members receive it than for a single person; the public service page provides no different amount for Guadeloupe. Estate recovery applies, in Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique and Réunion, only if net assets exceed a threshold higher than in mainland France, within the limit of a ceiling per year of payment for a single person (service-public.gouv.fr).

For income tax, taxpayers resident in Guadeloupe on 31 December benefit from a 30% abatement of the tax calculated according to the scale, capped at €2,450 (BOFiP). If the retiree leaves the department during the year, the abatement applies only to the share of tax relating to income received during the period of residence. VAT is 8.5% at the standard rate and 2.1% at the reduced rate (impots.gouv.fr).

An Insee survey finds prices 16% higher than in mainland France, with a “health” item 16% more expensive, food 42% more expensive and housing (rent, charges, water, electricity) 4% more expensive. According to Insee, about 59% of main residences are occupied by their owner and about 14% of dwellings are vacant. The official sources read do not publish an average rent per square metre: it should be checked locally.

The population is about 380,000 inhabitants. The most populous municipalities are Les Abymes, Baie-Mahault, Le Gosier, Petit-Bourg and Sainte-Anne. For a retiree, proximity to care matters: the Guadeloupe University Hospital (CHU) is in Pointe-à-Pitre (route de Chauvel) and the Basse-Terre hospital, with 237 beds and places, serves the south of Basse-Terre; the CGSS receives visitors by appointment in Basse-Terre, Capesterre-Belle-Eau, Les Abymes, Le Moule, Marie-Galante, Port-Louis, Saint-François and Sainte-Rose.

Maximum temperatures reach 28 to 31 °C during the dry season (January to April) and 31 to 33 °C during the wet season (June to November), which corresponds to the hurricane period (Météo-France). Dengue is monitored weekly by Santé publique France; the Regional Health Agency (ARS) recommends seeking care in case of high fever while avoiding aspirin and anti-inflammatories, and protecting yourself from mosquito bites. The Aedes aegypti mosquito can also transmit chikungunya. Leptospirosis also circulates in Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, with at-risk activities such as gardening or swimming in rivers.

The ARS runs a flu vaccination campaign every year, with people aged 65 and over at the front: the vaccine is free for eligible people, who receive from the Assurance Maladie an invitation letter and a coverage voucher. It can be given on the same day as the Covid-19 vaccine.