Retiring in Saint-Barthélemy: Pension, Taxation, Access to Healthcare and Island Life

Saint-Barthélemy is an overseas collectivity of the Republic: the entry and residence rules concern foreigners and only apply there where expressly stated (Légifrance). A French retiree therefore has no retiree visa and no income condition to show to a residence administration. They settle as in any region of France, with three steps to plan: affiliation to the CPS, tax residence and housing.

The island’s population is ageing: about 12% of residents are under 25, about 28.5% between 25 and 54 and nearly 60% over 55 (Insee, as cited by the IEDOM, the overseas issuing institute). Facilities dedicated to seniors remain modest: a 30-bed EHPAD, a home nursing service and consultations from visiting specialists at the Maison de la Santé. These benchmarks help choose between a permanent move and a stay shared with mainland France.

The retirement pension is calculated scheme by scheme, according to the careers completed. A retiree who worked in mainland France continues to receive the pensions of their former schemes. On the island, the CPS is the contact for personal and survivor’s pensions: it offers to apply for your pension online in the private area, with the “Apply for my pension (all schemes)” service, accessible through FranceConnect or with an existing account. A single application covers the basic and supplementary schemes; for insured people born from 1953 who were private-sector employees, craftspeople or traders, the last scheme they contributed to becomes the single point of contact. The file can be saved for 90 days.

The island’s employees come under the CGRR for the supplementary pension, the supplementary pension fund of the overseas departments. For any salaried activity carried out in Saint-Barthélemy after 1 July 2017, the CPS asks you to send the CGRR copies of your payslips, because employers’ social declarations do not pass these contributions on to it and the supplementary career account is therefore not fed. The basic pension is not affected. The CGRR’s contact details (Pointe-à-Pitre) are on the CPS page.

Before applying for your pension, the all-scheme estimate is made on info-retraite.fr, which the CPS recommends; applying for a survivor’s pension, the widowhood allowance or the orphan’s pension is prepared in the same sections. Early retirement for a long career has a dedicated section on the CPS website.

The Assurance retraite publishes a table by generation, with two columns depending on whether the pension takes effect before or from 1 September 2026. For example, for insured people born in 1968, the statutory age is 64 for a pension taking effect before that date and 63 and 9 months from 1 September 2026; for the 1963 generation, it is 62 and 9 months; for 1969 and 1970, 64. The insurance length required for a full pension ranges from 170 quarters (1963 generation) to 172 quarters (generations 1965 to 1970 depending on the columns), and the automatic full-rate age is 67 for people born from 1955.

Without the required insurance length, a reduction applies if you leave at the statutory age; the supplementary schemes have their own age and amount rules. The “Get my retirement age” service gives the personalised figure. As the parameters have changed several times, it is advisable to read the table in force at the time of the application.

The CPS booklet states that retirees are affiliated to the CPS like employees, self-employed people and non-working people. With universal health protection, a retiree has their healthcare costs covered by virtue of their stable and regular residence in France, a criterion the CPS checks regularly; the Assurance Maladie (French public health insurance) asks for proof of 6 months of residence in France in the last 12 months (see the glossary entry on PUMa). Form S1, useful to a retiree who settles in another country of the European Union, does not concern settling in Saint-Barthélemy; it becomes useful again if you leave for Europe (see the guide to using form S1).

• Reimbursement: on the basis of the rates in force, within five days with the carte Vitale; the ticket modérateur (co-payment) and extra fees remain payable by the insured person or their supplementary insurer. The details are in the guide to healthcare reimbursement in Saint-Barthélemy.
• Solidarity supplementary health scheme: available subject to income conditions, with no out-of-pocket cost on dental, optical and hearing aids for its recipients.
• Care off the island: the local hospital has no operating theatre; about 200 medical evacuations a year are organised to Saint-Martin or Guadeloupe, and a scheduled transport requires a prior agreement filed with the CPS.
• Staying at home: the hospital’s home nursing service is aimed at over-60s on prescription; the Louis-Vialenc EHPAD has 30 beds. The CPS also receives applications for autonomy support.

The island’s tax residence is acquired after five years of residence (Article LO 6214-4 of the general code of local authorities); before that, the household is deemed domiciled in mainland France and declares its income to the national tax administration, as before leaving. After five years, or in case of settlement before 15 July 2007, the household is a tax resident of Saint-Barthélemy: income from a local source is not taxed and the IEDOM notes the absence of income tax for tax residents.

According to the IEDOM, the State considers these households as foreign tax residents and they come under the non-resident individuals’ tax office for their income from a mainland or overseas source. A pension paid by a French scheme is income of this kind: its taxation, withholding tax and any application of social levies are confirmed with this office. As a benchmark, the CPS states, in its section on retirement abroad, that pensions no longer bear the CSG, CRDS or CASA (French social levies) when tax residence is outside France, while keeping a health insurance contribution; its contribution table specifies that the CSG and CRDS are only due from people whose tax residence is in France. For a tax resident of the island, these rules should be checked with the CPS before the first pension is paid on site.

Owners pay local taxes: registration and land registry duties on purchase, the waste disposal tax, the 15% electricity tax up to 12 kVA (IEDOM). Inheritance and gifts also come under the collectivity’s contributions code.

The cost of housing is the main item in a retiree’s budget in Saint-Barthélemy. The IEDOM notes that renting a room can exceed €2,000 a month and that purchase prices can exceed €15,000 per square metre, in a stock of nearly 5,900 homes (Insee) where 70% of the territory is classed as green zone. The island publishes no price index; imported goods bear a 5% quay duty, which feeds a high cost of living. Electricity and fuel prices also depend on local taxes, including the electricity tax.

The documented places to live are Gustavia, which concentrates the port, the hospital, the school and the CPS reception, and Saint-Jean, where the collectivity is considering a new hospital. Access to the island is through the airport, saturated in the tourist season, or by sea from Saint-Martin. The rainy season, from July to October, is the hurricane period, while the dry season runs from December to May (IEDOM). The page on living in Saint-Barthélemy details the climate, schooling and formalities.

A pension can be received anywhere in the world. The CPS asks you to report your change of address before departure, to provide new bank details with IBAN and BIC if your bank details change, and to have a certificate of existence completed each year by a local authority, or validated with the “Mon certificat de vie” app. The older people’s solidarity allowance and the supplementary invalidity allowance require residence in France: they are no longer paid when the stay in France is under nine months.

For health, the CPS indicates that protection is provided in France or Europe under the regulations in force, and refers, for a permanent departure outside Europe, to the international agreements (CLEISS, the French centre for international social security links) and to the CFE (Caisse des Français de l’Étranger, the voluntary health insurance scheme for French people abroad) or a private insurer. The guides on a retiree’s health insurance abroad and on receiving your pension abroad present these cases.