Who Gets What

How does my area compare?

Tottenham has the highest total spending on Universal Credit in 2023-24.

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

Spending on Universal Credit, total, 2023-24, by constituency

Total, low to high

  1. Under £65.1m
  2. £65.1m to £92.6m
  3. £92.6m to £120.1m
  4. £120.1m to £147.6m
  5. £147.6m to £175.1m
  6. £175.1m and over
Spending on Universal Credit, total, 2023-24, 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 3Tottenham 4Croydon West 5Barking 9East Ham 18Bethnal Green and Stepney 33Birmingham Ladywood 46Poplar and Limehouse 72

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.

£53.7bnMay 2023+£746.4mPopulation+£22.8bnShare claiming+£10.2bnPayment size£87.5bnMay 2026
What changed: Universal Credit
May 2023£53.7bn
Population+£746.4m
Share claiming+£22.8bn
Payment size+£10.2bn
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.

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, 2023-24. 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, 2023-24
RankNotes
1Tottenham£287.1m£2,076£2,902
2Brent East£281.1m£2,072£3,046
3Edmonton and Winchmore Hill£252.6m£2,016£3,156
4Enfield North£250.8m£1,963£3,061
5Birmingham Ladywood£244.4m£1,509£2,080
6Croydon West£233.1m£1,814£2,614
7Barking£225.6m£1,630£2,440
8Poplar and Limehouse£223.1m£1,502£1,931
9Bethnal Green and Stepney£219.1m£1,642£2,144
10East Ham£214.9m£1,580£2,299
11West Ham and Beckton£214.5m£1,489£2,032
12Queen's Park and Maida Vale£208.6m£1,681£2,332
13Hackney North and Stoke Newington£207.9m£1,764£2,546
14Erith and Thamesmead£199.4m£1,453£2,152
15Feltham and Heston£199.0m£1,443£2,143
16Leeds South£194.7m£1,510£2,234
17Ealing North£193.6m£1,467£2,196
18Southgate and Wood Green£193.2m£1,515£2,242
19Ealing Central and Acton£192.8m£1,409£1,979
20Stratford and Bow£189.5m£1,400£1,855
21Lewisham East£188.8m£1,614£2,370
22Hendon£187.4m£1,378£2,050
23Ilford South£187.0m£1,383£2,085
24Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North£185.1m£1,489£2,401
25Birmingham Erdington£182.9m£1,468£2,289
26Birmingham Perry Barr£182.3m£1,460£2,229
27Brentford and Isleworth£179.2m£1,369£2,032
28Middlesbrough and Thornaby East£179.1m£1,503£2,333
29Blackpool South£178.8m£1,603£2,560
30Bolton South and Walkden£175.1m£1,364£2,177
31Ealing Southall£174.9m£1,346£1,980
32Hayes and Harlington£174.6m£1,278£1,873
33Blackley and Middleton South£174.6m£1,527£2,447
34Gorton and Denton£174.0m£1,483£2,320
35Wolverhampton South East£173.3m£1,378£2,203
36Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West£172.8m£1,259£1,870
37Peterborough£171.3m£1,299£2,074
38Walthamstow£169.6m£1,369£1,926
39Finchley and Golders Green£169.3m£1,317£2,073
40Peckham£169.0m£1,521£2,031
41Bradford East£168.3m£1,373£2,158
42Dagenham and Rainham£168.1m£1,358£2,121
43Walsall and Bloxwich£167.6m£1,375£2,196
44Brent West£166.1m£1,167£1,664
45Bradford West£165.8m£1,323£2,041
46Streatham and Croydon North£164.9m£1,370£1,956
47Derby South£162.4m£1,323£2,052
48Coventry East£162.3m£1,328£2,094
49Hackney South and Shoreditch£161.4m£1,389£1,796
50Liverpool Riverside£161.3m£1,266£1,653

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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