When you are constructing a retirement portfolio, it is important to focus on S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares that offer defensive qualities, strong business fundamentals, positive long-term growth prospects, and a consistent history of dividend payments.

By prioritising these attributes, you can create a portfolio with the potential for solid, sustainable growth while also generating a reliable and increasing source of passive income to support you in retirement.

With that in mind, let's see which ASX 200 shares could be excellent options for a retirement portfolio right now. Two that analysts rate as top buys are as follows:

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

Supermarket giant Coles could be an excellent addition to a retirement portfolio. The ASX 200 share boasts many of the attributes outlined for retirement investing, particularly its defensive qualities.

As a provider of essential goods, Coles has the ability to maintain steady earnings (and dividends) during challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlights its resilience.

And with analysts expecting its investment in automation to start delivering the goods (quite literally) in the near term, a growing stream of passive income could be on the cards for retirees.

For example, Bell Potter is forecasting fully franked dividends of 68 cents per share in FY 2025 and 78 cents per share in FY 2026. Based on its current share price of $19.00, this equates to dividend yields of 3.75% and 4.3%, respectively.

Bell Potter has a buy rating and $20.50 price target on the company's shares.

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)

Toll road operator Transurban Group could be another excellent addition to a retirement portfolio. The ASX 200 share offers a combination of defensive qualities, long-term growth potential, and an attractive yield.

Transurban owns and operates a portfolio of important toll roads across Australia and the United States, including Melbourne's CityLink, Sydney's WestConnex, and Brisbane's Logan Motorway. These roads play a vital role in urban transport networks, benefiting from consistent demand driven by population growth, urbanisation, and the time savings they provide to commuters.

But the company isn't stopping there. It has a number of development projects that should be supportive of growth over the next decade. In addition, inflation-linked toll revenues and increasing vehicle usage are also likely to give its income and dividends a boost.

Speaking of dividends, analysts at UBS are forecasting dividends per share of 65 cents in FY 2025 and 69 cents in FY 2026. This would mean dividend yields of 5% and 5.3%, respectively, at current prices.

UBS also sees plenty of upside for its shares. It has a buy rating and $14.55 price target. This compares favourably to its current share price of $12.97.