The Department for Work and Pensions published the Abstract of DWP benefit rate statistics 2024 on 22 January 20251. The publication is described as accredited official statistics and covers benefit rates, their annual uprating, and indices of prices and earnings in Great Britain1.
The abstract provides a guide to DWP benefit uprating history, a comparison of the value of benefits over time, and supporting tables showing historical figures back to 19481. It is published alongside a data tables file in OpenDocument format, 327 KB in size, and carries the reference ISBN 978-1-78659-787-81.
"An annual publication covering statistics on benefit rates, their annual uprating, and indices of prices and earnings in Great Britain."
The department is seeking views on the publication. It says it wants to learn more about how the release is being used and how easy it is to find information, and is also asking for feedback on the suitability of sources used in relation to inflation and earnings1. Comments can be sent by email to benefits.statistics@dwp.gov.uk, and a user questionnaire is available1.
The publication does not itself set out new benefit rates or announce an uprating decision. No new rates, percentages or effective dates for benefit increases appear in the material published on 22 January 20251. The abstract is a statistical reference covering rates and their uprating history, rather than an uprating announcement.
Why it matters for households
The abstract is the reference document behind the annual increases that set benefit rates each April. It records how rates have changed over time and how they compare with prices and earnings, with historical figures going back to 19481. For households receiving benefits, the figures are the basis on which the real value of awards over time can be checked, rather than a statement of what anyone will be paid in the coming year.
Because the publication covers Great Britain, the indices and rate history it contains relate to England, Scotland and Wales1. No rates for Northern Ireland are set out in the material published on 22 January 20251.
The department's request for feedback concerns the statistics themselves, including the inflation and earnings sources used, and how the release is used by readers1. That feedback process does not change any entitlement or payment.
What happens next
The DWP has invited comments on the publication by email to benefits.statistics@dwp.gov.uk and through a user questionnaire, which it says will help shape future releases1. No closing date for that feedback is given in the published material1. No date for the next edition of the abstract has been reported1.
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