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, 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 £1,433
  2. £1,433 to £1,864
  3. £1,864 to £2,295
  4. £2,295 to £2,726
  5. £2,726 to £3,157
  6. £3,157 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.

Benefit
£120.7bnFebruary 2023+£2.3bnPopulation+£5.4bnShare claiming+£15.0bnPayment size£143.4bnMarch 2026
What changed: State Pension
February 2023£120.7bn
Population+£2.3bn
Share claiming+£5.4bn
Payment size+£15.0bn
March 2026£143.4bn
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.

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£377.1m£4,271£12,615
2North Norfolk£365.5m£4,205£12,376
3New Forest West£351.7m£4,137£12,539
4Clacton£408.4m£3,964£13,099
5Bexhill and Battle£357.5m£3,873£12,628
6West Dorset£372.9m£3,871£12,235
7Louth and Horncastle£376.1m£3,816£12,717
8Isle of Wight East£264.0m£3,805£12,426
9Honiton and Sidmouth£352.6m£3,764£12,116
10South Shropshire£356.5m£3,698£12,290
11Suffolk Coastal£348.1m£3,652£12,294
12Bridlington and The Wolds£344.8m£3,619£12,402
13North Northumberland£338.0m£3,603£12,367
14South Devon£330.2m£3,578£12,264
15Waveney Valley£325.2m£3,559£12,347
16Arundel and South Downs£352.1m£3,552£12,484
17Wirral West£313.7m£3,521£12,761
18Torridge and Tavistock£341.4m£3,496£12,312
19Sefton Central£326.3m£3,495£13,081
20North Herefordshire£323.7m£3,489£12,271
21Tiverton and Minehead£323.3m£3,474£12,345
22Lewes£337.4m£3,464£12,671
23West Worcestershire£354.8m£3,461£12,566
24Thirsk and Malton£339.2m£3,396£12,440
25Fylde£343.0m£3,382£12,279
26Westmorland and Lonsdale£309.0m£3,374£12,345
27South East Cornwall£313.0m£3,363£12,015
28Herne Bay and Sandwich£343.5m£3,351£12,655
29Bognor Regis and Littlehampton£365.2m£3,348£12,607
30St Ives£299.8m£3,347£12,199
31Skipton and Ripon£334.4m£3,335£12,403
32Kingswinford and South Staffordshire£302.7m£3,333£12,867
33North Dorset£319.0m£3,332£12,515
34Beverley and Holderness£306.0m£3,331£12,607
35Newton Abbot£316.2m£3,330£12,614
36Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe£307.7m£3,326£12,367
37Na h-Eileanan an Iar£86.2m£3,323£12,849Shared out, Estimated, Includes Scottish benefits
38Dumfries and Galloway£319.4m£3,316£12,636Shared out, Estimated, Includes Scottish benefits
39South Dorset£332.1m£3,301£12,341
40Hexham£317.8m£3,300£12,396
41Mid Dorset and North Poole£322.0m£3,294£12,729
42Isle of Wight West£236.9m£3,278£12,287
43Morecambe and Lunesdale£326.3m£3,269£12,774
44Ynys Môn£225.5m£3,263£12,601
45Staffordshire Moorlands£280.1m£3,262£12,720
46Glastonbury and Somerton£305.7m£3,252£12,506
47Lowestoft£310.3m£3,250£12,659
48Chichester£355.6m£3,249£12,666
49Blackpool North and Fleetwood£317.1m£3,245£12,677
50Scarborough and Whitby£320.4m£3,241£12,575

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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