Who Gets What

How does my area compare?

Tottenham has the highest total spending on Universal Credit in 2024-25.

Help with living costs for working-age people on a low income, in or out of work. Shown in 2026-27 prices, using CPI inflation, adjusted for inflation so that years can be compared.

Spending on Universal Credit, total, 2024-25, by constituency

Total, low to high

  1. Under £81.7m
  2. £81.7m to £115.6m
  3. £115.6m to £149.6m
  4. £149.6m to £183.6m
  5. £183.6m to £217.5m
  6. £217.5m and over
Spending on Universal Credit, total, 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 632 ranked constituencies. It joins the area's rank for each way of counting. The 10 highest total are drawn in dark lines.

TotalPer residentPer person aged 16 to 641632Edmonton and Winchmore Hill 1Enfield North 2Brent East 3Hackney North and Stoke Newington 4Tottenham 5Barking 15Bethnal Green and Stepney 36Birmingham Ladywood 42West Ham and Beckton 56Poplar and Limehouse 60

What changed

More people, more claims or bigger payments?

Great Britain, Universal Credit: yearly spending at the rate in May 2023 and in May 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.

£53.1bnMay 2023+£742.7mPopulation+£22.7bnShare claiming+£10.9bnPayment size£87.5bnMay 2026
What changed: Universal Credit
May 2023£53.1bn
Population+£742.7m
Share claiming+£22.7bn
Payment size+£10.9bn
May 2026£87.5bn
The share claiming is the number of households claiming per person aged 16 to 64. 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 working-age benefits per person aged 16 to 64, 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 = −£2,631 + £5,734 × share aged 0 to 15 + £551 × share aged 66 and over − £201 × deprivation decile + £429 × ln(median pay) + £353 × Wales + £111 × Scotland. Fitted by ordinary least squares across 626 constituencies. R² = 0.85. Gold dots are above the expected level and grey dots are below it.

Every constituency

Spending on Universal Credit, 2024-25. Rank is for total, 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 Universal Credit for every constituency, 2024-25
RankNotes
1Tottenham£364.8m£2,635£3,691
2Brent East£357.0m£2,603£3,829
3Enfield North£326.4m£2,560£3,995
4Edmonton and Winchmore Hill£319.6m£2,555£4,008
5Birmingham Ladywood£311.2m£1,865£2,542
6Hackney North and Stoke Newington£306.4m£2,610£3,791
7Poplar and Limehouse£280.9m£1,880£2,413
8Barking£274.1m£1,924£2,869
9Bethnal Green and Stepney£269.5m£2,001£2,605
10West Ham and Beckton£265.7m£1,796£2,437
11East Ham£264.3m£1,937£2,813
12Croydon West£263.6m£1,998£2,873
13Queen's Park and Maida Vale£259.4m£2,081£2,896
14Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North£246.6m£1,966£3,154
15Ealing North£245.4m£1,825£2,725
16Erith and Thamesmead£242.3m£1,736£2,552
17Leeds South£239.7m£1,814£2,674
18Southgate and Wood Green£236.9m£1,855£2,759
19Hendon£236.7m£1,699£2,519
20Birmingham Erdington£233.9m£1,854£2,904
21Ealing Central and Acton£232.9m£1,675£2,351
22Birmingham Perry Barr£231.3m£1,846£2,815
23Lewisham East£231.1m£1,961£2,876
24Feltham and Heston£230.8m£1,644£2,437
25Stratford and Bow£227.4m£1,648£2,175
26Bradford West£222.6m£1,752£2,697
27Ilford South£222.0m£1,605£2,405
28Bradford East£221.7m£1,788£2,804
29Hayes and Harlington£218.3m£1,546£2,243
30Walsall and Bloxwich£217.6m£1,740£2,757
31Blackley and Middleton South£217.1m£1,882£3,020
32Bolton South and Walkden£216.1m£1,657£2,637
33Wolverhampton South East£213.7m£1,665£2,654
34Blackpool South£213.1m£1,893£3,024
35Gorton and Denton£212.6m£1,785£2,789
36Middlesbrough and Thornaby East£211.2m£1,742£2,699
37Ealing Southall£210.3m£1,590£2,328
38Birmingham Yardley£210.3m£1,785£2,819
39Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough£209.2m£1,814£2,851
40Finchley and Golders Green£208.6m£1,604£2,524
41Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West£207.8m£1,479£2,186
42Brent West£207.7m£1,434£2,048
43Liverpool Riverside£207.3m£1,575£2,053
44Brentford and Isleworth£205.2m£1,550£2,295
45Peterborough£204.9m£1,545£2,473
46Hackney South and Shoreditch£204.9m£1,737£2,235
47Dagenham and Rainham£204.2m£1,598£2,489
48Derby South£204.0m£1,627£2,514
49Walthamstow£203.3m£1,629£2,287
50Coventry East£199.9m£1,595£2,507

League table of every constituency for the latest period

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

Every measureThe full list, as plain links

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