This page provides analysis of the latest data, covering the year from April 2020 to March 2021, from firms on the retirement income market.
We have collected data on the retirement income market since April 2015. The data enables us to monitor developments in the market, for example, to gain insights into what action consumers take the first time they access a pension pot.
Previously published data for periods up to March 2018 is also included in separate tables. The data for these periods was drawn from a representative sample of firms. We started collecting data from all regulated firms that provide retirement income products from 1 April 2018. Given the change in the reporting population, we advise users to be careful if comparing the two data sets from before and after April 2018. Find out more about the source of the data[1].
What’s included in the data
- Numbers and types of pension plans accessed for the first time.
- Number of plans where the plan holder made a regular or ad hoc partial withdrawal.
- Use of advice when purchasing retirement products.
- Types of annuity options sold.
- Sources of business for retirement product providers.
- Number of defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension transfers received.
- Total value withdrawn by Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS) and by all fully encashed plans.
Key findings
- Total number of pension plans accessed for the first time in 2020/21 decreased by 12% to 596,080 compared to 2019/20 (673,831).
- Annuity purchases continue to decline - down 13% to 60,383 in 2020/21.
- Plans fully withdrawn at first time of access in 2020/21 also fell by 9% to 341,404. 9 out of 10 of these were for pot sizes less than £30,000.
Table 1: Number of pension plans accessed for the first time by method of access
| Method of access | Apr - Sep 2018 | Oct 2018 - Mar 2019 | Apr - Sep 2019 | Oct 2019 - Mar 2020 | Apr - Sep 2020 | Oct 2020 - Mar 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plans used to buy an annuity | 37,990 | 35,987 | 38,381 | 31,138 | 28,694 | 31,689 |
| Plans entering income drawdown and not fully withdrawn | 95,830 | 98,328 | 101,625 | 95,493 | 74,788 | 91,200 |
| Plans with first uncrystallised fund pension lump sum (UFPLS) payment and not fully withdrawn | 13,371 | 13,366 | 15,497 | 16,167 | 12,886 | 15,419 |
| Plans fully withdrawn* | 187,819 | 169,303 | 201,115 | 174,415 | 173,069 | 168,335 |
| Total plans accessed for the first time | 335,010 | 316,984 | 356,618 | 317,213 | 289,437 | 306,643 |
Source: FCA retirement income data
*By plan holders accessing their plans for the first time via small pot lump sum, drawdown or UFPLS.
- The number of firms offering UFPLS has increased to 69, a rise of 21% since 2018.
- Drawdown, UFPLS and encashments are the preference of younger pension holders. On the other hand, annuities are more likely to be taken by those post retirement age, with 59% of annuities are taken by people over the age of 65.
- 43% of regular withdrawals were withdrawn at an annual rate of 8% or more of the pot value (42% in 2019/20).
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Data table
- 33% of plans accessed for the first time in 2020/21 were accessed by plan holders who took regulated advice (down 3% from 2019/20).
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Data table
- The number of defined DB to DC transfers received by pension providers covered by our data in 2020/21 were down by 25% to 30,596.
Full data tables
Our downloadable Excel tables[3] contain the data for the latest and previous periods. The data is also displayed in a series of interactive dashboards[2].
Copyright
The data on this page is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence[4].