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State Retirement Pensions

Asked by Mark GarnierConservativeDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled Answered 10 February 2026UIN 111116

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people receive the basic state pension and the additional state pension.

Answered by Torsten Bell

In Great Britain in 2025/26, around 8.1 million individuals were forecast to receive the basic State Pension (this is the State Pension under the pre-2016 system), with around 6.9 million of these individuals forecast to receive the Additional State Pension*. These estimates all refer to pensions administered by DWP for State Pensions accrued in Great Britain.

*The Additional State Pension is an earnings-related element of the pre-2016 State Pension and could include Additional Pension, State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) and State Second Pension (S2P) elements.

Source: Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables 2025

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