Average Pension Income in the UK

The detail

The DWP Pensioners Incomes Series is the definitive source for what UK retirees actually live on. For the financial year ending 2025 it reports median pensioner income of £455 a week after direct taxes and after housing costs - about £23,700 a year. DWP uses the median rather than the mean because a small number of very wealthy pensioners pull the mean upwards and misrepresent the typical retiree.

Household type matters enormously. Median income after housing costs was £650 a week for pensioner couples (roughly £33,800 a year) and £332 a week for single pensioners (roughly £17,300 a year). Single pensioners - disproportionately older women who have outlived a partner - are the group most exposed to pensioner poverty, because most household costs do not halve when you live alone.

Income also falls with age. Median income after housing costs was £502 a week for pensioners under 75 but £417 a week for those aged 75 and over, reflecting the fading of private and occupational pension income and the larger role the State Pension plays for the oldest retirees. The State Pension averaged £248 a week among recipients in FYE 2025.

These are net after-housing-cost figures, so they are not directly comparable to the gross "£12,547.60 a year full new State Pension" often quoted for 2026/27. The Retirement Living Standards (published by Pensions UK, formerly the PLSA) put the "minimum" standard at £13,900 a year of spending for a single person and £22,500 for a two-person household, so the full new State Pension on its own falls short of even the minimum for a single person; the "moderate" (£32,700 single) and "comfortable" (£45,400 single) standards need substantial private pension income on top - see our pension pot needed page for the savings that implies.