Old and wise head for the sun

Date: 02/11/00

Europe's north-south divide has taken on new meaning following publication of figures indicating that soon all old people will be living in the southern member states while the young populate the northern countries.

A Eurostat survey has revealed that pensioners are taking full advantage of their remaining freedom of movement to flock to the warmer parts of the EU.

In the Voreio Aigaio region of Greece, for instance, 62&percent; of people are over 65, while the figure in the Italian province of Liguria is 61&percent;. By contrast, in Ireland, no region has more than 26&percent; of people over 65 and Denmark has none with more than 28&percent;. The survey does not, however, confirm the widespread belief that virtually all British pensioners already live in Malaga, Spain.