Who Gets What

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 2026-27 prices, using CPI inflation, adjusted for inflation so that years can be compared.

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

Per resident, low to high

  1. Under £1,440
  2. £1,440 to £1,872
  3. £1,872 to £2,305
  4. £2,305 to £2,737
  5. £2,737 to £3,170
  6. £3,170 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. 2026-27 prices, using CPI inflation.

Benefit
£119.8bnFebruary 2023+£2.3bnPopulation+£5.4bnShare claiming+£16.3bnPayment size£143.9bnMarch 2026
What changed: State Pension
February 2023£119.8bn
Population+£2.3bn
Share claiming+£5.4bn
Payment size+£16.3bn
March 2026£143.9bn
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. 2026-27 prices, using CPI 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£378.7m£4,289£12,669
2North Norfolk£367.1m£4,223£12,428
3New Forest West£353.2m£4,154£12,592
4Clacton£410.1m£3,981£13,155
5Bexhill and Battle£359.0m£3,890£12,682
6West Dorset£374.5m£3,887£12,287
7Louth and Horncastle£377.7m£3,832£12,772
8Isle of Wight East£265.1m£3,821£12,479
9Honiton and Sidmouth£354.1m£3,780£12,168
10South Shropshire£358.1m£3,714£12,343
11Suffolk Coastal£349.6m£3,668£12,346
12Bridlington and The Wolds£346.2m£3,634£12,454
13North Northumberland£339.5m£3,619£12,420
14South Devon£331.6m£3,593£12,316
15Waveney Valley£326.6m£3,574£12,399
16Arundel and South Downs£353.6m£3,567£12,537
17Wirral West£315.0m£3,536£12,816
18Torridge and Tavistock£342.9m£3,511£12,365
19Sefton Central£327.7m£3,510£13,137
20North Herefordshire£325.1m£3,504£12,323
21Tiverton and Minehead£324.7m£3,489£12,398
22Lewes£338.8m£3,479£12,725
23West Worcestershire£356.3m£3,476£12,620
24Thirsk and Malton£340.6m£3,411£12,493
25Fylde£344.5m£3,396£12,331
26Westmorland and Lonsdale£310.4m£3,389£12,398
27South East Cornwall£314.3m£3,378£12,066
28Herne Bay and Sandwich£345.0m£3,365£12,709
29Bognor Regis and Littlehampton£366.7m£3,362£12,660
30St Ives£301.1m£3,361£12,251
31Skipton and Ripon£335.9m£3,350£12,456
32Kingswinford and South Staffordshire£304.0m£3,348£12,922
33North Dorset£320.4m£3,346£12,568
34Beverley and Holderness£307.3m£3,345£12,661
35Newton Abbot£317.5m£3,344£12,667
36Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe£309.0m£3,340£12,420
37Na h-Eileanan an Iar£86.5m£3,337£12,904Shared out, Estimated, Includes Scottish benefits
38Dumfries and Galloway£320.8m£3,330£12,690Shared out, Estimated, Includes Scottish benefits
39South Dorset£333.5m£3,315£12,394
40Hexham£319.2m£3,314£12,448
41Mid Dorset and North Poole£323.4m£3,308£12,783
42Isle of Wight West£237.9m£3,292£12,339
43Morecambe and Lunesdale£327.7m£3,283£12,828
44Ynys Môn£226.4m£3,277£12,655
45Staffordshire Moorlands£281.3m£3,276£12,774
46Glastonbury and Somerton£307.0m£3,266£12,559
47Lowestoft£311.6m£3,264£12,713
48Chichester£357.1m£3,263£12,720
49Blackpool North and Fleetwood£318.4m£3,259£12,731
50Scarborough and Whitby£321.7m£3,255£12,629

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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