How the State Pension goes up each year

The State Pension goes up every April, and the size of the rise is decided by a rule known as the triple lock. Under it, most State Pension payments increase by the highest of three measures: the Consumer Prices Index inflation rate for the 12 months to September, average earnings growth between May and July, or 2.5%¹.

That means the increase is never worked out from a single number. The government takes the three figures, picks whichever is largest, and applies it to the basic and new State Pension. In recent years the earnings measure has usually been the highest, which is why the April 2024 rise was 8.5% and the April 2025 rise was 4.1%².

The rise is automatic. You do not claim it, and it applies whether you are already drawing your pension or have yet to reach State Pension age. What follows explains which figures are used, how the 2.5% floor works, what has happened in recent years, and how the rules differ if you defer your pension or live abroad.

The triple lock: the highest of three measures

The triple lock is the method used to uprate the State Pension each year. It raises payments by the highest of earnings growth, inflation, or 2.5%⁷. It was announced in the June 2010 Budget and came into effect from April 2011, when the basic State Pension began rising by the best of average earnings growth, prices measured by CPI, or 2.5%⁸.

The three measures are not calculated at the same time or by the same body. Inflation is measured by the Office for National Statistics, which publishes the CPI figure used for uprating state pensions and benefits¹⁰. Earnings growth comes from the average percentage growth in wages across Great Britain¹¹. The 2.5% figure is a fixed floor written into the policy rather than a measured statistic.

There is a statutory requirement to uprate both the basic and new State Pension every year at least in line with earnings¹². The triple lock commitment goes beyond that minimum, promising the highest of the three measures rather than earnings alone. That distinction matters if the triple lock is ever changed: the legal floor would remain even if the more generous commitment did not.

The effect over time has been that State Pension increases have surpassed inflation in seven of the past 10 years¹³. The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that the triple lock leads to the State Pension being uprated annually by 0.36 percentage points more than earnings growth on average¹⁴.

Which figures are used: September CPI and May to July earnings

The two measured parts of the triple lock come from specific periods, and the timing is deliberate. Using September's inflation figure and July's earnings figure gives the government enough time to set the new rates before the following April.

For inflation, the relevant number is the CPI rate in the 12 months up to the previous September¹⁵. The CPI is the measure the government uses for inflation targeting and for uprating state pensions and benefits¹⁰. It replaced the Retail Prices Index for this purpose from April 2011, when state benefits, public sector pensions and the State Second Pension moved to CPI increases rather than RPI¹⁶.

For earnings, the figure used is annual growth in average weekly earnings, including bonuses, in the three months to July, as published in October¹⁷. The government uses September's CPI measure and the three-month average of earnings from July to decide the rise¹⁸.

The two measures can point in very different directions, which is why the "highest of" rule produces different outcomes from year to year. In April 2022, UK benefits and state pensions were uprated using the annual rate of CPI to September 2021, which was 3.1%¹⁹. In November 2022, the majority of benefits including the State Pension were uprated by September's CPI figure of 10.1%²⁰. In April 2023, State Pension and benefit rates were increased by 10.1% in line with prices growth²¹.

The 2.5% floor when prices and wages grow slowly

The 2.5% element of the triple lock is a floor, not a forecast. It only decides the increase in years when both inflation and earnings growth come in below 2.5%, which has been rare in recent years but was the norm for much of the 2010s.

When the floor does apply, it produces a real-terms increase, because payments rise faster than both prices and wages. That happened in 2017-18, when awards rose by 2.5%, higher than CPI inflation or average earnings at the time²². The basic State Pension increases every year by whichever is the highest of earnings growth in Great Britain, CPI price growth in the UK, or 2.5%¹¹.

The floor is also the reason the triple lock is more generous than a simple earnings link. A pure earnings link would have produced smaller increases in years when wage growth was weak but prices were rising, and the 2.5% minimum protects against that.

For anyone trying to work out what their own pension will be, the practical point is that the floor sets a minimum on the percentage, not on the cash amount. If you receive less than the full State Pension, a 2.5% rise applies to your own rate, so the cash increase will be smaller than 2.5% of the full rate.

Recent increases: 4.1% in line with earnings

The most recent increases show how the three measures have alternated. The triple lock was reinstated for April 2023, with a 10.1% rise in the State Pension²³. From April 2024, the State Pension rose by 8.5% in line with the increase in earnings². The relevant State Pension and Pension Credit rates were increased by 8.5% in line with earnings growth²¹.

For the 2025-26 tax year, the State Pension rose by 4.1% in April³. That took the full new State Pension to £11,975.60 a year, an increase of 4.1%²⁴. Pension-age benefits increased by 4.1% from April 2025, in line with earnings growth, because of the triple lock²⁵.

A 4.8% increase to the new and basic State Pension has been set out for April 2026²⁶. The pattern across these years is that the earnings measure has usually been the highest of the three, so the increases have followed wage growth rather than inflation or the 2.5% floor.

New and basic State Pension: both rise under the triple lock

Both parts of the State Pension system are covered by the triple lock, but they are not identical, and the difference matters if you reached State Pension age before April 2016.

The old State Pension has two tiers: the basic State Pension and the additional State Pension¹². The basic State Pension increases every year by whichever is the highest of earnings growth in Great Britain, CPI price growth in the UK, or 2.5%¹¹. The additional State Pension is not linked to the triple lock guarantee and is increased by CPI inflation each year¹⁸.

The new State Pension, which applies to people reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016, replaced both tiers. Increases to cover living costs through the Additional State Pension ended when the new State Pension started²⁷. If you are on the new State Pension, the whole of your payment is uprated under the triple lock.

This is the most common reason someone's increase does not match the headline figure. If you have an Additional State Pension from the old system, that part of your income rises with CPI, while the basic State Pension part rises with the triple lock. The two can move at different rates in the same year.

You can read more about how the two systems differ in the new State Pension explained and the basic State Pension, SERPS and Additional State Pension.

Deferring your State Pension: around 5.8% for each full year

If you delay claiming your State Pension, you can increase the amount you get²⁸. For the new State Pension, every year you delay claiming increases your weekly payments by just under 5.8%⁵. This works out as just under 5.8% for every 52 weeks, or 12 months, that you defer²⁹.

The basic State Pension works differently. It increases by 1% for every five weeks you defer³⁰. For every five weeks you defer, you get 1% of that amount added to your regular payment for life, which is just under 10.4% for every 52 weeks²⁹. Independent guidance puts the same figures another way: under current rules, for every nine weeks you delay taking your State Pension, your payments increase by 1%, and for each full year you defer you get an extra 5.8%³¹.

The rules depend on when you reached State Pension age. If you reached it before April 2016, you could get an extra 10.4% for each year you defer³¹. Delaying your pension can increase your weekly payments by roughly 5.8% to 10.4% per year, depending on when you reached State Pension age³².

There is a trade-off. It will take over 15 years to get back 52 weeks of deferred full new State Pension, and that time increases by around one year for each additional 52 weeks deferred³³. The minimum deferral period for the new State Pension is at least nine weeks⁵.

Extra from deferral rises with CPI, not the triple lock

The extra amount you build up by deferring is treated differently from the main State Pension once you start claiming it. Any extra amount from delaying your claim increases in line with CPI instead of the triple lock¹.

That means the deferred boost is excluded from the triple lock and only increases annually in line with inflation³². Over a long retirement, the gap between the two can widen, because the main State Pension rises by the highest of earnings, inflation or 2.5%, while the deferred extra rises only with prices.

The same principle applies to the Additional State Pension, which is also increased by CPI inflation each year rather than the triple lock¹⁸. If you have both a deferred boost and an Additional State Pension, neither is protected by the triple lock, and only the basic or new State Pension element is.

There is more detail on how deferral works, including how to claim once you decide to take your pension, in deferring your State Pension for a higher payment.

State Pension age is rising from 66 to 67

The age at which you can claim is separate from the annual increase, but it affects when the rises start applying to you. Between April 2026 and March 2028, the State Pension age is rising from 66 to 67⁶. Under the Pensions Act 2014, State Pension age will gradually increase from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028³⁴.

The change is being phased in. From April, the government will phase in a State Pension age increase from 66 to 67 to be complete within two years³⁵. The State Pension age is already being gradually increased and will reach 67 by April 2028³⁶. A further rise to 68 is scheduled between 2044 and 2046 under the 2007 Pensions Act³⁷.

The State Pension age is regularly reviewed, so the results of any calculator based on it may change in the future³⁸. If you are close to State Pension age, the timing of the rise determines when your payments begin and therefore when the first April increase applies to you. You can check your own date in what is my State Pension age?.

Does the increase apply if you live abroad?

Whether your State Pension rises each year depends on where you live, not on your National Insurance record. You can claim State Pension abroad if you have paid enough National Insurance contributions to qualify, and the amount might be affected by retiring or moving abroad³⁹.

If you live in an EU or EEA country or Switzerland, your UK State Pension will continue to be increased each year in line with the rate paid in the UK⁴⁰. Some other countries have no legal requirement to up-rate, and payments can be frozen at the rate in force when you left. Up-rating is disallowed where there is no legal requirement to up-rate, under regulation 5 of the Social Security Benefit (Persons Abroad) Regulations 1975 and regulation 21 of the State Pension Regulations 2015⁴¹.

The deferred extra follows the same pattern. The extra amount you get because you deferred will usually increase each year based on the Consumer Prices Index, but it will not increase for some people who live abroad³³. If you have an occupational pension as well, that pension will increase each year in line with the scheme rules and current legislation⁴².

There are ways to increase a frozen or reduced State Pension. You might be able to increase the amount by delaying your pension, or by paying voluntary contributions to fill gaps in your National Insurance record³⁹. People living abroad maintaining their State Pension record face paying roughly £767 more each year at current rates under one change to voluntary contribution rules³².

More on this is in your pensions if you move abroad and claiming your State Pension from abroad.

Where to get help

The State Pension increase is applied automatically, so there is usually nothing to do. If your payment does not look right, or you want to check your record, free and impartial help is available.

Pension Wise offers free guidance on your pension options, including the State Pension¹. You can check your State Pension forecast and your National Insurance record through government guidance⁴³. If you have a complaint about your State Pension that cannot be resolved, the Pensions Ombudsman handles complaints about pension schemes⁴⁴.

For anyone whose income depends on the State Pension, it is worth knowing that the annual increase is not the only thing that changes. The State Pension is taxable, and the rates at which it is taxed are separate from the uprating rules⁴. You can read more in how pension income is taxed.