Australians retiring in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia

Eight Southeast Asian countries had an estimated 24,589 migrants from Australia in July 2024, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)¹. Singapore accounted for 17,222 of them, or 70 per cent, followed by Malaysia with 2,432, Indonesia with 1,940 and the Philippines with 1,489.

The migration figures include people of all ages and do not show how many Australians have retired in Southeast Asia.

The UN counts migrants based on their country of birth, or their citizenship if birth information is unavailable². In Singapore and Malaysia, the count is of people born in Australia. In Indonesia and the Philippines, it is of Australian citizens¹.

Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar do not report separate figures for Australians living in their countries, so the UN has no estimate for Australians in those three countries¹.

The estimated number of migrants from Australia in the eight countries increased from 14,839 in 1990 to 24,589 in 2024¹. Over the same period, the number in Indonesia fell from 6,047 to 1,940, while the number in Singapore increased from 4,549 to 17,222.

Malaysia had an estimated 2,432 people born in Australia in July 2024, according to UN DESA¹. The UN estimated between 2,426 and 2,433 people born in Australia living in Malaysia at each recorded date from 1990 to 2024.

Malaysia had an estimated 3.37 million residents who were not Malaysian citizens in 2026, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), which does not publish these figures by country of citizenship¹⁶.

Malaysia's Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture approved 97 Australians under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme in 2012, making Australia the seventh-largest source country of the 3,227 people approved that year¹⁷. Australia was not among the 10 largest source countries for the 21,059 approvals between 2002 and March 2013. The ministry has not published approvals by country for a later period.

Malaysia's average house price was RM506,317 in the second quarter of 2026, a preliminary figure, according to the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC)¹⁸. The national house price index increased 0.9 per cent from the second quarter of 2025. At the RBA exchange rate of 2.8477 ringgit per Australian dollar on 30 September 2026, the average price is equivalent to about A$177,800¹².

Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest average house price of any Malaysian state or federal territory, at RM825,282¹⁸. Among Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor, Johor recorded the largest annual increase in its house price index to the second quarter of 2026, at 3.6 per cent.

Malaysian households spent an average of RM1,307 a month on housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels in 2024, accounting for 23.5 per cent of their total household spending, according to the DOSM Household Expenditure Survey¹⁹. That amount is equivalent to about A$459 at the RBA rate on 30 September 2026.

The cost of household goods and services in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia was estimated at between 26 and 35 per cent of Australia's price levels in 2021, according to the World Bank International Comparison Program (ICP)³⁰.

Vietnam recorded the lowest household consumption price level among the five countries, at 46.4, compared with a world average of 100³⁰. The Philippines recorded the highest, at 62.1, compared with 177.4 for Australia.

Among the spending categories compared, housing and utilities had the lowest price level relative to Australia's in all five countries. Thailand's price level for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels was 25.9, about one-tenth of Australia's price level of 257.5³⁰. The Philippines recorded the highest of the five, at 57.9.

Food price levels in the five countries were between 53 and 62 per cent of Australia's in 2021³⁰.

The World Bank describes these indexes as estimates rather than official national figures³⁰. They compare 2021 prices using exchange rates from the same year.

Australia has social security agreements with 32 countries, but none are in Southeast Asia³⁸. The three Asian countries with agreements are India, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

An agreement with Uruguay, signed in August 2025, is being implemented, and agreements with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Lithuania, Mongolia and Sweden are still being negotiated³⁸. None of these countries is in Southeast Asia.

Social security agreements allow people to claim a pension from either country and combine periods of Australian residence with time spent contributing to the other country's social security system to meet eligibility requirements³⁸.

Without an agreement, a person must be living in Australia, physically present in the country and an Australian resident when claiming the Age Pension³⁹. The claimant generally needs at least 10 years of Australian residence, including five consecutive years.

Can the Age Pension be paid while living in Southeast Asia?

Once granted, the Age Pension can be paid indefinitely while a person lives overseas, including in Southeast Asia⁴⁰.

For a person who moves overseas permanently, the Energy Supplement, the Pension Supplement and the Pensioner Concession Card stop from the date of departure⁴¹.

After 26 weeks outside Australia, the pension amount depends on the years of Australian residence between age 16 and Age Pension age⁴¹. A person with 35 years or more keeps the full rate in most cases, and a person with 10 years receives 10/35ths of the usual rate.

The maximum basic Age Pension rate for a single person living outside Australia is A$29,520.40 a year from 20 September 2026³⁷. It is paid every four weeks in local currency or US dollars, depending on the country.

Medicare does not cover medical treatment in another country, and Australia's reciprocal health care agreements cover 11 countries, none of them in Southeast Asia⁴².