We analyse the latest data from firms on the retirement income market, covering the year April 2025 to March 2026.
We have collected data on the retirement income market since April 2015. The data helps us monitor market trends and developments. For example, it gives us insight into the actions that consumers take the first time they access a pension pot.
We publish retirement income market data for the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2026. Data published before 1 April 2018 is available in separate tables.
Up to 31 March 2018, the data was collected from a representative sample of firms. Since 1 April 2018, we have collected data from all regulated firms that provide retirement income products.
Because of this change in methodology, you should take care when comparing data published before and after April 2018.
Find out more about the source of 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- Total value withdrawn by Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS) and by all fully encashed plans.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 increased by 7.4% to 1,047,008 in the year ending 31 March 2026, compared with 974,990 in the previous year.
- Plans entering drawdown increased by 10.5% to 401,137 in the year ending 31 March 2026, compared with 362,946 in the previous year.
- In the year ending 31 March 2026, 64.5% of those who entered drawdown took a Pension Commencement Lump Sum, compared with 61.9% in the previous year, an increase of 2.6% percentage points.
- Annuity purchases increased by 13.2% to 100,144 in the year ending 31 March 2026, up from 88,430 in the previous year.
- The proportion of pension pots accessed through full encashment fell to 45.8% in the year ending 31 March 2026, compared with 47.4% in the previous year. Full encashment remained the most common way of accessing a pension pot but accounted for a smaller share of all pots accessed.
- The total value withdrawn from pension pots increased by 21.7% to £91,236m in the year ending 31 March 2026, up from £74,987m in the previous year. The proportion of pots accessed with a value of £250,000 or more also increased, reaching 8.6%, compared with 7.2% in the previous year, and 4.8% in the year ending 31 March 2024.
- In the year ending 31 March 2026, 30.8% of pension plans accessed for the first time were accessed by plan holders who took regulated advice broadly unchanged from 30.4% in the previous year.
- The number of DB to DC transfers continued to fall, decreasing to 6,083 in the year ending 31 March 2026, compared with 6,418 in the previous year.
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Data table
*Full encashments by plan holders accessing their plans for the first time via small pot lump sum, drawdown or uncrystallised funds pension lump sums (UFPLS).
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Data table
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Data table
Full data tables
Our downloadable Excel tables contain the data for the latest and previous periods. An issue was identified in Table 19a in the underlying data. It has now been corrected. We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.
The data is also displayed in a series of interactive dashboards.
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 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 - retirement income flow data, collected twice a year for each 6-month period from the period 1 April to 30 September 2018 onwards
REP016 - 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
The 2025/26 publication includes newly published data for the year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, alongside refreshed data for the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2025, and previously published data for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2021.
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 limited 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.
For fully withdrawn plans and plans accessed through partial UFPLS, the data includes only plans that had not been accessed before the reporting period. For drawdown and annuity purchases, the data includes all plans first accessed by those methods during the reporting period, regardless of any previous access through other methods.
The notes to the underlying data tables provide further information based on the data in each table.
Disclaimer
The figures reported within this publication are based on submitted data as of 7 August 2026. Figures published prior to this publication may have changed because firms can resubmit their data. Any outcomes of this data using your calculations will remain your responsibility.
Copyright
The data on this page is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence.