The research has revealed the county is in the top 10 – with key indicators showing it’s a great place for pensioners to live.

55 counties in England and Wales were assessed as part of the Prudential Quality of Retirement Index on eight sets of data which have been identified as indicators of a happy and comfortable retirement.

The eight sets of data according to the research are:

• Resident pensioners as a proportion of a county’s population – an indicator that the county has previously been an attractive location for pensioners.

• Disability-free life expectancy – pensioners’ ongoing health and wellbeing.

• Access to health care – the quality of health care likely to be available should a pensioner fall ill.

• Crime levels – how safe someone is likely to feel in retirement.

• The number of pensioners moving to the county – an indicator of how attractive the area is to other retired people.

• Pension income – an analysis of the health of pensioners’ finances.

• Weather – looking at the attractiveness of the county’s climate.

• Healthy lifestyle data – showing how proactive the population is in pursuing a healthy lifestyle.

Suffolk came number ninth on the list with its best categories being the number of pensioners moving to the county, and disability-free life expectancy.

Essex may not have made the top ten but the county did score highest in the weather category.

The best county to retire in, according to the index, is West Sussex, followed by Dorset and then East Sussex.

West Sussex’s top categories are attracting new pensioners, pension income, weather and disability-free life expectancy.

Stan Russell, a retirement income expert at Prudential, said: “There are now 10.6 million people aged 65 or over in England and Wales, a million more than five years ago, and accounting for nearly one in five of the total population.

“So deciding on the right place to retire to is a challenge faced by a huge number of people each year. Our analysis shows that every part of the country has something different to offer pensioners, but the counties with the most attractive attributes tend to be along the southern and eastern coasts of England.”