Yes, you can, as long as you've paid enough UK national insurance (minimum 10 years) to qualify. If you've paid into a social security system overseas that has a dual agreement with the UK, or is in the EU, then those years can count towards the 10 years.
For example, if you have five years in the UK and five years in Portugal, then you'd get 5/35ths of the UK state pension. This is because the two periods combine to give 10 years, which meets the qualification, but only the five years in the UK actually count towards the amount. If you're unsure how many years you have, check your state pension forecast.
To claim, you need to be within four months and four days of your state pension age. You'll also need to contact the International Pension Centre. If you live part of the year abroad you have to choose which country you want your pension to be paid in. You can't be paid in one country for part of the year and another for the rest of the year.
You'll be paid in local currency – the amount you get may change due to exchange rates – and you can choose to be paid every four or 13 weeks. If your state pension is under £5 a week, you'll be paid once a year in December.
If you live in the UK, your state pension usually rises each year. But if you move overseas, you're only entitled to an annual increase if you live in:
• Gibraltar or Switzerland
• The European Economic Area (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway)
• A country that has a social security agreement with the UK
If you move to any other country, the amount you get will be frozen at the rate in place when you left the UK.
If you have moved abroad since 1 January 2021 then some changes have been made in relation to Brexit – read the Gov.uk website for full details.