Where benefit money goes£299bn

in benefits went to people in Great Britain in 2024-25, in 2026-27 prices to allow for inflation. See who received it and where they live, in seven short chapters with narration.

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01One year of benefits

One year of benefit spending in Great Britain, £299 billion, shown as a pile of dots.

In 2024-25, people in Great Britain received £299 billion in benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions and Social Security Scotland.

That is in 2026-27 prices, to allow for inflation.

02Your guess

PensionersDisability and carersWorking-age and housing

Your guess stays on this device.

Show the real split

Benefit spending by group, 2024-25, 2026-27 prices
Group	Spending	Share
Pensioners	£154bn	51.5%
Disability and carers	£44bn	14.9%
Working-age and housing	£101bn	33.6%

A bar split into three parts: pensioners 51.5%, working-age and housing 33.6%, disability and carers 14.9%.

First, a question.

How do you think it splits between pensioners, disabled people and carers, and people of working age, including help with rent?

Drag the handles to make your guess. It stays on your device.

Now it's your turn. Have a guess, then lock it in to carry on.

03Benefit by benefit

Each square is £1 billion.

Benefit spending by family, 2024-25, 2026-27 prices
Benefit	Spending	Share
State Pension	£138.4bn	46.3%
Attendance Allowance and Pension Age Disability Payment	£9.0bn	3.0%
Pension Credit	£6.3bn	2.1%
Winter Fuel Payment and Pension Age Winter Heating Payment	£0.3bn	0.1%
Personal Independence Payment and Adult Disability Payment	£30.4bn	10.2%
Disability Living Allowance and Child Disability Payment	£9.1bn	3.0%
Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment	£4.9bn	1.6%
Universal Credit	£70.3bn	23.5%
Housing Benefit	£16.3bn	5.4%
Employment and Support Allowance	£13.0bn	4.3%
Other benefits	£0.4bn	0.1%
Jobseeker's Allowance	£0.3bn	0.1%
Income Support	£0.3bn	0.1%

The dots sorted into columns, one for each benefit. The State Pension is the largest.

Here is the same money, sorted by benefit.

The State Pension is the largest, at £138 billion.

Next, Personal Independence Payment and its Scottish version come to £30 billion. Universal Credit comes to £70 billion.

Benefits for pensioners make up 51.5% of the total, just over half.

04Every constituency

Benefit spending per resident, 2026-27 prices

under £3,662
£3,662 to £4,117
£4,117 to £4,572
£4,572 to £5,027
£5,027 to £5,482
£5,482 and over

Per resident: highest and lowest five constituencies
Constituency	Per resident
Clacton	£6,882
Liverpool Walton	£6,341
Aberafan Maesteg	£6,301
Isle of Wight East	£6,243
Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney	£6,220
Bristol Central	£2,137
Leeds Central and Headingley	£2,372
Sheffield Central	£2,462
Cambridge	£2,602
Battersea	£2,862

A map of every constituency in Great Britain, coloured by benefit spending per resident.

Now each dot moves to the constituency where the person who received it lives.

There are 632 constituencies, each with its own MP. On this map, large rural areas take up the most space.

You can also show every constituency at the same size, which makes city areas easier to see.

05Spending per person

Pensioner benefits for each person aged 66 and over

Highest: Birmingham Ladywood (£14,901), Liverpool Riverside (£14,616), Manchester Rusholme (£14,399).

Working-age benefits for each person aged 16 to 64

Highest: Enfield North (£4,496), Edmonton and Winchmore Hill (£4,484), Hackney North and Stoke Newington (£4,305).

Two 3D maps of the same constituencies. On one, height shows pensioner benefits per person aged 66 and over. On the other, height shows working-age benefits per person aged 16 to 64.

Now height shows spending per person, measured in two ways.

This one shows pensioner benefits for each person aged 66 and over.

This one shows working-age benefits for each person aged 16 to 64.

None of the 10 highest areas on one map is in the top 10 on the other.

06North and south, or old and young

Left to right: share of residents aged 66 and over. Colour: benefit spending per resident. The link with age scores 0.44. The link with how far north an area is scores 0.24. A score of 1 would be a perfect match.

Each constituency as a dot, placed by the share of residents aged 66 and over and coloured by benefit spending per resident.

Here each constituency is a dot. Its colour shows benefit spending per resident.

Sorted from south to north, the colours are mixed. The link scores 0.24, where 1 would be a perfect match.

Sorted by the share of residents aged 66 and over, the link is stronger, at 0.44.

So spending per resident is linked more to age than to how far north an area is. That is why we compare each benefit with the age group it is for.

07Your area

The postcode goes to postcodes.io, an open lookup service, and is not stored.

Or find an area by name.

Each of these areas has its own page of figures.

Enter your postcode to see how your area compares.

Full transcript

One year of benefits