Since 2002, following discussions with the European Commission about the effect of Community law, winter fuel payments have been made to eligible former UK residents living elsewhere in the European economic area or Switzerland provided they qualified for a winter fuel payment before leaving the UK. Although in some cases payments may be made for years before 2002, a separate breakdown of payments for the earlier years is not available. Information on payments made from 2002-03 is in the following table.
Country 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Gibraltar 30 50 75 95 100 Republic of Ireland 660 1,395 2,370 3,475 4,375 Austria 15 25 45 85 115 Belgium 20 35 65 105 130 Denmark 10 20 30 50 50 Finland 10 10 20 30 40 France 1,780 3,795 6,470 9,440 11,505 Germany 90 225 370 550 650 Greece 65 150 270 480 655 Italy 95 200 360 595 735 Luxembourg 5 5 10 15 15 Netherlands 25 60 85 145 170 Norway 0 10 15 20 35 Portugal 105 255 450 720 910 Spain 5,165 10,390 16,215 21,380 24,695 Sweden 5 30 40 70 90 Switzerland 10 20 45 90 115 Iceland 0 0 5 5 5 Liechtenstein 0 0 0 0 0 Malta 0 0 265 420 570 Republic of Estonia 0 0 0 5 5 Republic of Latvia 0 0 0 5 10 Republic of Lithuania 0 0 0 5 5 Hungary 0 0 20 55 85 Poland 0 0 25 70 115 Cyprus 0 0 1,395 2,190 3,005 Republic of Slovenia 0 0 0 0 5 Czech Republic 0 0 0 5 10 Slovak Republic 0 0 0 0 0 Notes: 1. The figures for the years 2002-03 and 2003-04 include only automated payments. These account for the great majority of payments made. Figures for clerical payments made in these years are not available broken down by country. However clerical payments are included in the figures from 2004-05. 2. 10 countries joined the European economic area in May 2004. Winter fuel payments could be paid to eligible former UK residents living in these countries from winter 2004-05. The figures for winter 2004-05 include some payments made for earlier years where entitlement had been established but not paid prior to leaving the UK. 3. Figures rounded to the nearest five.
Total winter fuel payments paid to pensioners living outside the United Kingdom in 2006-07 is in the following table.
Country of recipients’ residence Amount (£000) Austria 20.4 Belgium 22.5 Cyprus 470.5 The Czech Republic 1.4 Denmark 8.2 The Republic of Estonia 1.2 Finland 7.0 France 1,821.7 Germany 110.9 Gibraltar 15.7 Greece 111.3 Hungary 15.0 Iceland 0.8 The Republic of Ireland 736.5 Italy 121.4 The Republic of Latvia 1.9 Liechtenstein 0.2 The Republic of Lithuania 0.5 Luxembourg 3.0 Malta 92.5 Netherlands 30.5 Norway 5.9 Poland 20.2 Portugal 149.0 Spain 3,921.5 The Slovak Republic 0.4 The Republic of Slovenia 0.8 Sweden 16.0 Switzerland 19.8 Total 7,726.5 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and the late payment run data for 2006-07 are included in the figures. 2. All payments shown include the data held in the system and the clerical data for some countries.