How does my area compare?

Christchurch has the highest spending on pensioner benefits per resident in 2024-25.

State Pension, Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance and winter heating payments, with the Scottish benefits that replace them. Per person figures use people aged 66 and over, the State Pension age. Shown in cash terms, not adjusted for inflation.

Spending on pensioner benefits, per resident, 2024-25, by constituency

Per resident, low to high

  1. Under £1,360
  2. £1,360 to £1,768
  3. £1,768 to £2,177
  4. £2,177 to £2,585
  5. £2,585 to £2,994
  6. £2,994 and over
  • Estimated value
Spending on pensioner benefits, per resident, 2024-25, by constituency. Boundaries are simplified. London is also shown larger, in a separate box. Northern Ireland is not covered. Every value is in the table below.
More ways to look at itHow ranks change, why spending changed, and spending compared with the expected level

Total or per person

Does the order change when you count per person?

Each line is one of the 631 ranked constituencies. It joins the area's rank for each way of counting. The 10 highest per resident are drawn in dark lines.

TotalPer residentPer person aged 66 and over1631Clacton 134Louth and Horncastle 356Bexhill and Battle 417Christchurch 426New Forest West 478Isle of Wight East 535North Norfolk 565South Shropshire 591West Dorset 607Honiton and Sidmouth 620

What changed

More people, more claims or bigger payments?

Great Britain, State Pension: yearly spending at the rate in February 2023 and in March 2026. The chart splits the change into three parts: the number of people in the age group, the share of them claiming, and the average payment. Cash terms, not adjusted for inflation.

Benefit
£104.6bnFebruary 2023+£2.1bnPopulation+£5.0bnShare claiming+£28.8bnPayment size£140.6bnMarch 2026
What changed: State Pension
February 2023£104.6bn
Population+£2.1bn
Share claiming+£5.0bn
Payment size+£28.8bn
March 2026£140.6bn
The share claiming is the number of people claiming per person aged 66 and over. Yearly spending here is the number claiming, times the average weekly payment, times 52. It is not the amount paid out over the year. Population after mid-2024 stays at the mid-2024 figure, so later growth shows in the share claiming.

Compared with similar areas

Is spending higher or lower than expected?

Spending on pensioner benefits per person aged 66 and over, 2024-25. We compare it with the level we would expect from each area's share of children and of people aged 66 and over, how deprived it is compared with the rest of its nation, and the typical pay of people who live there. Cash terms, not adjusted for inflation.

Chart step
This chart needs JavaScript. Each area's expected level is on its area page.
Expected level = £15,304 − £852 × share aged 0 to 15 − £3,208 × share aged 66 and over − £44 × deprivation decile − £206 × ln(median pay) + £186 × Wales + £65 × Scotland. Fitted by ordinary least squares across 625 constituencies. R² = 0.39. Gold dots are above the expected level and grey dots are below it.

Every constituency

Spending on pensioner benefits, 2024-25. Rank is for per resident, and 1 is the highest. Areas with fewer than 1,000 people in the age group have no rank. The first 50 of 632 rows are shown.

Spending on pensioner benefits for every constituency, 2024-25
RankNotes
1Christchurch£357.7m£4,051£11,966
2North Norfolk£346.7m£3,989£11,739
3New Forest West£333.6m£3,924£11,894
4Clacton£387.3m£3,760£12,425
5Bexhill and Battle£339.1m£3,674£11,979
6West Dorset£353.7m£3,671£11,606
7Louth and Horncastle£356.8m£3,619£12,063
8Isle of Wight East£250.4m£3,609£11,787
9Honiton and Sidmouth£334.5m£3,570£11,493
10South Shropshire£338.2m£3,508£11,658
11Suffolk Coastal£330.2m£3,464£11,661
12Bridlington and The Wolds£327.0m£3,433£11,763
13North Northumberland£320.6m£3,418£11,731
14South Devon£313.2m£3,393£11,633
15Waveney Valley£308.4m£3,376£11,712
16Arundel and South Downs£334.0m£3,369£11,841
17Wirral West£297.5m£3,340£12,105
18Torridge and Tavistock£323.9m£3,317£11,679
19Sefton Central£309.5m£3,315£12,408
20North Herefordshire£307.0m£3,310£11,640
21Tiverton and Minehead£306.7m£3,296£11,710
22Lewes£320.0m£3,286£12,019
23West Worcestershire£336.5m£3,283£11,920
24Thirsk and Malton£321.7m£3,222£11,800
25Fylde£325.3m£3,208£11,647
26Westmorland and Lonsdale£293.1m£3,201£11,710
27South East Cornwall£296.9m£3,190£11,397
28Herne Bay and Sandwich£325.9m£3,178£12,004
29Bognor Regis and Littlehampton£346.4m£3,176£11,958
30St Ives£284.4m£3,175£11,571
31Skipton and Ripon£317.2m£3,164£11,765
32Kingswinford and South Staffordshire£287.2m£3,162£12,205
33North Dorset£302.6m£3,161£11,871
34Beverley and Holderness£290.3m£3,159£11,958
35Newton Abbot£299.9m£3,159£11,965
36Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe£291.9m£3,155£11,731
37Na h-Eileanan an Iar£81.7m£3,152£12,188Shared out, Estimated, Includes Scottish benefits
38Dumfries and Galloway£303.0m£3,145£11,986Shared out, Estimated, Includes Scottish benefits
39South Dorset£315.0m£3,131£11,706
40Hexham£301.5m£3,130£11,758
41Mid Dorset and North Poole£305.4m£3,125£12,074
42Isle of Wight West£224.7m£3,109£11,654
43Morecambe and Lunesdale£309.5m£3,101£12,117
44Ynys Môn£213.9m£3,095£11,953
45Staffordshire Moorlands£265.7m£3,094£12,066
46Glastonbury and Somerton£290.0m£3,085£11,862
47Lowestoft£294.3m£3,083£12,008
48Chichester£337.3m£3,082£12,014
49Blackpool North and Fleetwood£300.8m£3,078£12,025
50Scarborough and Whitby£303.9m£3,074£11,928

League table of every constituency for the latest period

Values are per resident unless a column says otherwise. Sources: Department for Work and Pensions, Social Security Scotland, Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland.

Every measureThe full list, as plain links

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