How many people claim benefits, and what does it cost?
The UK spent about £305bn on benefits and the state pension in 2024-25, 9.9% of GDP. 5.47 million people were on Universal Credit and 1.69 million claimed unemployment-related benefits.
The detail
Each page has the figures, the trend, a table and the questions people ask.
What the government spends on benefits and the state pension.
See spending →People on Universal Credit, PIP, the state pension and Pension Credit.
See claimants →People claiming unemployment-related benefits.
See the claimant count →Income inequality against other countries.
Compare countries →Pensions and benefits in the public finances.
See spending →In numbers
Each measure’s recent trend (up to ten years), with the latest figure.
| Measure | Recent trend | Latest |
|---|---|---|
| Spending on benefits and the state pension 2024-25 | £305bn | |
| Spending on benefits as a share of the economy 2024-25 | 9.9% | |
| People on Universal Credit 2024-25 | 5.47 | |
| People claiming unemployment-related benefits August 2026 | 1.69 |
At a glance
What’s this?
What the UK government spent on benefits and the state pension, in billions of pounds at today's prices.
What it cannot tell you: Spending depends on the number of claimants and the rates paid, and the state pension is a large share because the population is ageing. It is not a measure of living standards for claimants.
What’s this?
Spending on benefits and the state pension as a share of everything the UK economy produces (GDP).
What it cannot tell you: Spending depends on the number of claimants and the rates paid, and the state pension is a large share because the population is ageing. It is not a measure of living standards for claimants.
What’s this?
The number of people in the UK getting Universal Credit, in millions. Universal Credit replaced six older benefits from 2013.
What it cannot tell you: A person can get more than one benefit, so caseloads from different benefits cannot be added together.
What’s this?
The number of people claiming Universal Credit (in the groups expected to look for work) or Jobseeker's Allowance, seasonally adjusted.
What it cannot tell you: It counts people claiming benefits, not everyone out of work, and the move to Universal Credit widened who counts as a claimant, so recent years are not comparable with the 1990s.
Questions people ask
Is the state pension counted?
Yes: spending figures include the state pension, which is the largest part of the total.
Where do the figures come from?
The Department for Work and Pensions publishes spending and claimant numbers; the ONS publishes the claimant count; the World Bank publishes inequality measures.
Sources: Department for Work and Pensions, ONS, World Bank. Updated every night. Each chart has a CSV and a Share button.
See also: Government money · Jobs and growth