Pensions in the United Kingdom

Pensions in the United Kingdom are organised around three pillars: a contributory State Pension that provides a baseline income, private pensions delivered through the workplace or on a personal basis, and public service pension schemes established in law. Oversight is split between The Pensions Regulator for trust-based occupational schemes and the Financial Conduct Authority for contract-based pensions and retail conduct, with a published joint regulatory strategy for the sector.

Most employees now enter saving through automatic enrolment, and saving mainly builds up in defined contribution arrangements. In 2024 about 89% of eligible employees in Great Britain were saving into a workplace pension, an estimated 21.7 million people. Patterns of access to defined contribution savings have continued to evolve since the 2015 pension freedoms, with both drawdown and annuity products used.

The State Pension is financed from National Insurance and depends on an individual’s contribution record. The full rate of the New State Pension in 2025 to 2026 is £230.25 a week.

Public service schemes operate under the framework created by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013. Most central government schemes are unfunded and the Local Government Pension Scheme is funded. On the Whole of Government Accounts basis the UK’s net public sector pension liability was £1,415.0 billion at 31 March 2023.

Digital and data initiatives sit alongside these structures. Under the pensions dashboards programme, schemes and providers must connect to a common digital architecture by 31 October 2026 so that individuals can find their pensions information in one place.