Panama City
USD
Spanish
UTC−5
Daily life
- Climate: Tropical: hot and humid on the coasts and in Panama City, with a dry season from about December to April. The highlands (Boquete) are cooler and wetter.
- Safety: Pickpocketing, muggings and attacks after ATM withdrawals in busy areas; Colón has a higher crime risk. Protests can block roads, and remote areas such as the Darién have few roads.
- English: limited outside tourist areas
- Expat community: large
Sources: UK travel advice: Panama, safety and security (checked 2026-10-22) · EF EPI 2025: Panama (70th, low) (checked 2026-10-22)
Cost of living
| Monthly, USD | Panama City | Boquete | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single | Couple | Single | Couple | |
| Rent | 875 | 1,215 | 700 | 1,000 |
| Food | 450 | 800 | 420 | 750 |
| Utilities | 230 | 250 | 100 | 110 |
| Transport | 80 | 150 | 60 | 120 |
| Health cover | 250 | 500 | 250 | 500 |
| Leisure | 250 | 430 | 200 | 350 |
| Total | 2,135 | 3,345 | 1,730 | 2,830 |
Panama uses the US dollar. Rent: a one-bedroom flat outside the centre for one person, between one and three bedrooms for a couple. Health: private insurance at 65–74 (jubilado discounts reduce medical bills). Utilities include internet; Panama City needs air conditioning. Boquete has few price reports.
Sources: Numbeo: cost of living in Panama City (updated Oct 2026) (checked 2026-10-22) · Numbeo: cost of living in Boquete (updated Oct 2026) (checked 2026-10-22)
Visas and residence
Permanent residence for retirees (pensionado / jubilado)
For people with a lifetime pension of at least $1,000 a month from a government, an international organisation or a private company, plus $250 a month per dependant. It gives permanent residence directly and the retiree discount card. A Panamanian lawyer must file the application; a health certificate is done in Panama.
- Minimum income: 1,000 USD a month
- Permanent: no renewals
- Press and lawyers also describe a $750-a-month pension plus a $100,000 home as an alternative; the official checklist we read does not mention it. Drawdown accounts that can run out (such as a 401(k)) do not count as a lifetime pension.
- Spouse can be included
- Official page
Trying it first: United States passport: 180 days without a visa; Canada passport: 180 days without a visa; United Kingdom passport: 180 days without a visa.
Sources: Servicio Nacional de Migración: permanent residence for retirees (Article 200) (checked 2026-10-23) · LexLatin: Panama pensionado visa (checked 2026-10-22)
Healthcare
Foreign retirees generally rely on private care: the public social security system (CSS) has no simple path for non-working foreigners. Private hospitals in Panama City are good, and the jubilado discount law cuts bills for consultations, hospital stays and medicines.
- Public system: No automatic access to the CSS for retirees who never contributed; keep private insurance. The retiree card gives legal discounts on many medical services.
- Private insurance, monthly (USD): age 55-64: 200 · age 65-74: 300 · age 75+: 450
- Pre-existing conditions: varies by insurer
Sources: Expat Focus: healthcare in Panama (checked 2026-10-22) · Casa Solution: retiree discounts and Bill 226 (checked 2026-10-22)
Taxes
Panama taxes only Panamanian-source income: foreign pensions and investment income are not taxed. There is no wealth tax and no inheritance tax; property tax applies above exemption thresholds.
- When you become tax resident: Resident if you spend more than 183 days in Panama in a year or have your home there.
Coming from United States
The US keeps taxing its citizens wherever they live; Panama adds no tax on foreign income.
- Tax treaty: no
- Public pension: There is no US–Panama tax treaty, but Panama does not tax foreign-source income, so US Social Security is taxed only by the US.
- Private pension: Taxed only by the US.
Sources: IRS: US income tax treaties A to Z (checked 2026-10-22)
Coming from United Kingdom
Expect UK tax on UK workplace and personal pensions; the State Pension is usually covered by the Personal Allowance. Your UK State Pension is paid but frozen: it does not rise each year while you live there (it goes back to the current rate if you return to the UK).
- Tax treaty: yes
- Public pension: Taxable only in Panama under the other income article; Panama does not tax foreign income.
- Private pension: Taxable in Panama, but the 2013 treaty also lets the UK tax pensions arising in the UK (Article 17); as Panama does not tax foreign income, in practice the UK taxes them. Most UK government pensions (such as civil service pensions) are taxed only in the UK.
Sources: GOV.UK: Panama tax treaties (checked 2026-10-22) · GOV.UK: countries where the State Pension is increased each year (checked 2026-10-22) · GOV.UK: tax on your UK income if you live abroad (State Pension, Personal Allowance, government pensions) (checked 2026-10-22) · HMRC International Manual INTM343190: pensions and annuities (State Pension under tax treaties) (checked 2026-10-22)
Coming from France
Expect French tax on your French pensions. Where France keeps the right to tax, your French pension funds withhold non-resident tax, and France applies minimum rates of 20% (30% above €29,579 for 2025 income) unless you opt for the average rate on your worldwide income.
- Tax treaty: yes
- Public pension: Basic state pension: taxable in Panama, but France can tax it too when Panama does not (Article 17(2)); as Panama does not tax foreign income, in practice France taxes it. Civil-service and military pensions are taxed only in France, unless you are Panamanian and not French.
- Private pension: Same rule: in practice taxed by France (Article 17).
Sources: Panama DGI: Panama–France tax treaty, synthesised text with the MLI, Articles 17 and 18 (checked 2026-10-22) · economie.gouv.fr: income tax for residents abroad (minimum rates, non-resident withholding on pensions) (checked 2026-10-22)
Coming from somewhere else? The general rules above apply; check your home country's tax treaty with Panama or ask a licensed advisor.
Sources: PwC tax summaries: Panama (checked 2026-10-22)
Housing
Foreigners can buy freely outside the restricted zones. Budget about 2% transfer tax plus legal and notary fees.
- Can foreigners buy? With restrictions: Foreigners, and Panamanian companies with foreign capital, cannot own land within 10 km of the borders (Constitution, Article 291) or, by one reading of the tax code, on islands; beachfront and indigenous lands have special regimes. Elsewhere there is no restriction.
- Purchase costs: about 4% of the price (taxes and fees)
- Renting: Furnished rentals are common in Panama City; leases are usually for a year.
Sources: Constitution of Panama (Official Gazette 25176, 2004), Article 291: no land within 10 km of the borders for foreigners (checked 2026-10-22) · Global Property Guide: buying in Panama (checked 2026-10-22)
Settling in
Once you choose Panama, the settling plan takes you through 5 steps, from a year before the move to your first year there. The first ones:
- Hire a Panamanian immigration lawyer: The law requires a licensed Panamanian lawyer to file residence applications.
- Gather apostilled documents: Proof of lifetime pension, criminal record certificate, passport and civil status documents, apostilled and translated.
- File the application in Panama: Your lawyer files with the National Migration Service; you do the health certificate with a Panamanian doctor and receive a temporary card while it is processed.
- Get your permanent residence card and retiree card: Once approved, collect the permanent card; the jubilado card gives the legal retiree discounts.
The full plan, with costs, delays and official links, is in your personal space (coming soon).
Rules and figures change and we can make mistakes: confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor before acting.