Retirement income market data 2023/24

We have collected data on the retirement income market since April 2015. The data helps us monitor developments. For example, it gives us insight into the actions consumers take the first time they access a pension pot.

Previously published data up to March 2018 is also included in separate tables. The data for these periods was initially drawn from a representative sample. We started collecting data from all regulated firms that provide retirement income products from 1 April 2018. This change means users should be careful if comparing the more complete data to data from before April 2018. Find out more about the source of the data.

• What’s included in the data
• Key findings
• Full data tables
• Interactive dashboards[1]
• About the data

What’s included in the data

• Numbers and types of pension plans accessed for the first time.
• Number of plans where the plan holder made a regular or ad hoc partial withdrawal.
• Use of advice when purchasing retirement products.
• Types of annuity options sold.
• Sources of business for retirement product providers.
• Number of defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension transfers received.
• Total value withdrawn by Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS) and by all fully encashed plans.
• Stock data and advice on drawdowns. This can be found in the underlying tables 19,19A, 19B, 19C and 20.

Key findings

• Total number of pension plans accessed for the first time in 2023/24 increased by 19.7% to 885,455 compared to 2022/23 (739,652).
   
• Sales of annuities saw the biggest increase from 59,163 in 2022/23 to 82,061 in 2023/24 (38.7%).
   
• Sales of drawdown increased by 27.9% from 218,183 in 2022/23 to 278,977 in 2023/24.
   
• The overall value of money being withdrawn from pension pots increased to £52,152m in 2023/24 from £43,233m in 2022/23. This is an increase of 20.6%.
   
• Some 30.9% of pension plans accessed for the first time in 2023/24 were accessed by plan holders who took regulated advice (down from 32.9 % in 2022/23).
   
• The number of DB to DC transfers continued to fall from 18,080 in 2022/23 to 7,181 in 2023/24. 
   

Full data tables

Our downloadable Excel tables[2] contain the data for the latest and previous periods. The data is also displayed in a series of interactive dashboards[1]. 

About the data

Data source

We have collected retirement income data from firms since the introduction of the pension freedoms in April 2015. For reporting periods up until 31 March 2018, we collected this from a representative sample of around 50 pension provider groups (estimated to cover around 95% of the defined contribution contract-based market at the time we started collecting the data).

For reporting periods from 1 April 2018 onwards, we collected data from all regulated firms that provide pension and retirement income products. Firms report these using 2 regulatory returns:

REP015[3] - retirement income flow data, collected twice a year for each 6-month period from the period 1 April to 30 September 2018 onwards

REP016[4] - retirement income stock and withdrawals flow data, collected annually at the end of each financial year from the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 onwards

In relation to Table 10, a reporting issue was identified for the period April 2018 to March 2022. We advise users to be careful when comparing the data in Table 10 between this period with other data.

Basis of the data

Our analysis reflects the data regulated firms submit to us using the above returns. We have carried out selective quality assurance checks on the data provided to us by firms.

The data refers to the number of plans accessed, rather than the number of consumers accessing their plans, as some consumers have multiple pension plans.

The data for plans that were fully withdrawn or accessed by partial Uncrystallised funds pension lump sums (UFPLS) relates to plan holders who had not accessed those plans by any method before the reporting period in question. For plans that entered drawdown or that were used to purchase an annuity, the data reflects all plans accessed by that method for the first time, regardless of whether the plan had previously been accessed in other ways.

The notes to the underlying data tables provide further information based on the data in each table.

Copyright

The data on this page is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence[5].