How much state pension will I get?

If you're looking ahead to retirement, one of the important things you need to know is how much state pension you’ll get

While a comfortable retirement is likely to hinge on your own pension savings (such as a workplace pension scheme and whether you have a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), the money you get from the state pension can provide a useful boost. What you might not realise is that the amounts on offer from the state pension vary widely from person to person.

How much you get depends on several factors, such as your age and how many National Insurance contributions you’ve made.

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Attempting to calculate how much you'll get is made harder by the state pension triple lock. This government policy means the state pension goes up every year, but the increase tends to change each time. It could be as high as 10% (or more), or as low as 2.5%.

The state pension increased by 4.1% this month (April 2025). It means those receiving the full new state pension will see their payout rise from £221.20 a week (£11,502 a year) to £230.25 (£11,973).

Meanwhile, the "old" state pension – known as the basic state pension – increased from £169.50 a week (£8,814 a year) to £176.45 (£9,175).

So, how can you work out what your state pension entitlement will be – and can you boost the size of your retirement fund? Here's everything you need to know.

How does the state pension work?

Understanding how the state pension is calculated is crucial when it comes to working out what your entitlement could look like. The amount you receive comes down to the number of years of recorded National Insurance contributions (NICs) you have.

If you're employed, your employer will have paid NICs on your behalf out of your wages. You can also top up your NICs record, while some people – like carers – can get National Insurance credits.

Your NICs go into a national ring-fenced pot from which the state pension is paid. When you retire, you will receive an amount of state pension that's proportionate to what you've put in or received in credit (more on this below).

This system is rather different from the way a personal pension works. Most workplace pensions and SIPPs depend on the performance of the stocks and shares you have invested in, as well as whether you opt to access that pot through drawdown or by purchasing an annuity.

There are currently two state pensions in the UK. The one you will get will depend on when you were born:

Basic state pension

The old, basic state pension applies to men born before 6 April 1951 and women born before 6 April 1953. So, those who are eligible will have already hit state pension age (which currently stands at 66).

The full basic state pension is currently worth £176.45 a week (£9,175 a year), and is guaranteed to rise at least 2.5% each year due to the triple lock. To access this full amount, you need:

• 30 qualifying years of NICs if you are a man born between 1945 and 1951
• 44 qualifying years of NICs if you are a man born before 1945
• 30 qualifying years of NICs if you are a woman born between 1950 and 1953
• 39 qualifying years of NICs if you are a woman born before 1950

Having more than the full number of years of NICs will not entitle you to a higher pension payout. If you don't have the full number of years of contributions, the amount you will get will be reduced proportionately.

So, if you have 20 years of NICs but require 30 for the full amount, you will receive 20/30ths of the full amount (currently £117.63 a week).

New state pension

The basic state pension has been replaced with the new state pension, and it works in much the same way in that the amount you get is determined by how many years of NICs you have.

It is open to men born on or after 6 April 1951, and women born on or after 6 April 1953. Unlike the basic state pension, you have to have 35 years of NICs to get the full amount, and at least 10 years to qualify for it at all.

The current maximum you can receive is £230.25 per week (around £11,973 a year). This rises by at least 2.5% each year thanks to the triple lock.

The amount you get will be proportionately lower if you have between 10 and 34 years of contributions on your record. For example, if you have 20 years of NICs, you will get 20/35ths of the full amount (£131.57 a week).

How much state pension will I get?

To be eligible for anything from the new state pension, you need to have a minimum of 10 years’ NICs.

If you made NICs before 6 April 2016 – when the basic state pension was replaced with the new state pension – then these are used to work out a “starting amount”. This will be either how much you would have got under the old state pension rules, or what you’d get if the new state pension had been in place throughout your working life – whichever is higher.

Each year of contributions after 6 April 2016 will add around £5 to your state pension, until you reach the current maximum of £230.25.

You can get a pensions forecast from the government showing how much state pension you will get, through the gov.uk website. You will need to register for the Government Gateway to use the state pension forecast tool.

What counts as National Insurance contributions for the state pension?

National Insurance contributions are paid once you are 16 or over and start earning above a particular threshold. For employees, that threshold is earning over £242 a week, while for the self-employed they are classed as being paid once they make a profit of above £12,570 per year.

Many people have gaps in their National Insurance record. For example, if you've taken time out of your career to raise kids, care for a loved one, or go back into education, you may not earn enough to qualify for a full state pension.

However, you may be eligible for National Insurance credits, which can help you to plug some of these gaps. Credits may be available if you are unable to work due to ill health, or because you are unemployed, or you are caring for someone.

Credits are also applied automatically if you receive child benefit, something many parents are missing out on. You can find out more about eligibility for National Insurance credits on the gov.uk website.

Can I top up my state pension?

If you have gaps in your National Insurance record, and don’t qualify for National Insurance credits, then you can make voluntary NICs. This can boost your overall record and increase the size of the state pension you will receive in retirement.

The rate you pay depends on which year you're buying.

• £824.20 (£15.85 a week) to buy 2019/20
• £795.60 (£15.30 a week) to buy 2020/21
• £800.80 (£15.40 a week) to buy 2021/22
• £824.20 (£15.85 a week) to buy 2022/23
• £907.40 (£17.45 a week) to buy 2023/24
• £907.40 (£17.45 a week) to buy 2024/25
• £923 (£17.75 a week) to buy 2025/26

If you're self-employed or you're topping up a partial year, the cost will be lower.

For each year you buy you get an extra 1/35ths state pension. This could add up to £340 a year to your state pension – or £6,800 over 20 years. This means that, as long as you live at least three years after the official retirement age, you’ll get your money back.

Buying a full year of NICs currently costs just over £907, while partial years are cheaper. For each year you buy you get an extra 1/35ths state pension – which works out as £302 a year – or £6,052 over 20 years. This means that, as long as you live at least three years after the official state pension age, you’ll get your money back.

This system is good value when you consider that the state pension rises each year depending on whichever is the highest of 2.5%, wage growth or CPI inflation, thanks to the triple lock. In essence, the state pension becomes more valuable over time.

You can usually buy voluntary National Insurance credits for the previous six tax years. But there has recently been a special window that allowed you to go back to 2006. The deadline to take advantage of this opportunity was 5 April 2025.

Earlier this year, HMRC “softened” the deadline slightly, explaining people would be able to claim extra credits as long as they have logged an online callback request by 5 April. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will then phone these people later to discuss payment of the voluntary NI contributions.

It is really important to check whether you will benefit from buying voluntary credits as there may be cases where buying the extra credits does not boost your state pension. The government has launched a new digital Check Your State Pension forecast service that it claims will make it easier for people to boost their National Insurance record. So, it's worth checking this out.

But for some situations, it’s worth calling the Future Pension Centre (part of the government) to talk through whether buying credits will increase your state pension.

What does the triple lock mean for my state pension?

The state pension triple lock was introduced under the coalition government in 2011, and is a way of ensuring that pensioners receive a meaningful increase to their state pension each year.

Under the triple lock, the state pension increases at the start of each new tax year by the largest of the following three figures:

• CPI inflation
• Wage growth
• 2.5%

The triple lock was paused for one year after the pandemic due to fears that there would be a surge in wage growth as people went off furlough. However, it has since been restored.

From April 2025, the full new state pension will rise 4.1% from £221.20 per week (£11,502 per year) to £230.25, an increase of £9.05. The rise reflects the 4.1% growth in earnings over the three months to July 2024, which was higher than the 1.7% inflation reading last September.

A pensioner receiving the full amount will therefore get an income of £11,973 in 2025-26. It means any retirees who receive the full state pension and earn around £500 in extra cash from part-time work or hobbies will have to pay income tax.

This is because the tax thresholds have been static since 2021, while the state pension has increased significantly, and is close to breaching the tax-free personal allowance, which is currently £12,570.

While the triple lock is good news for pensioners, it is controversial. For one, it's expensive for the government to maintain, and it can mean that pensioners receive big increases at a time when workers and the young are struggling.

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, says the spiralling cost of the state pension means there should be a proper review into the future of the triple lock. This would put an end to the rumours and worries that the government may change or axe it each year.

She said: “The triple lock has played a role in supporting pensioner incomes over the past decade but this needs to be balanced with the needs of the younger working population. The state pension forms the backbone of people’s retirement planning, and they need some certainty on when they will receive it. We need to see a wide-ranging review of the system to see how this can be best delivered.”

How do I claim my state pension?

The state pension is not paid automatically when you reach state pension age. Instead, you need to actively claim it. The DWP will contact you in the months leading up to you reaching state pension age to explain how you can do this.

If you’ve not received an invitation letter, but you’re within three months of reaching your state pension age, you can still make a claim, and the quickest way to do this is on the government website. To complete your claim, you’ll need the following details:

• the date of your most recent marriage, civil partnership or divorce
• the dates of any time spent living or working abroad
• your bank or building society details

If you don’t need the money immediately, then it may be worth deferring your state pension payments.

If you reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2016, your state pension is increased by 1% for every nine weeks you defer. As a result, deferring your state pension by a year will mean the payments are boosted by around 5.8%.

So for example, you get £230.25 a week (the full new state pension). By deferring for 52 weeks, you’ll get an extra £13.35 a week (5.8% of £230.25).

This example assumes there is no annual increase in the state pension. If there is an annual increase, the amount you could get could be larger.

When can I claim my state pension?

You can start to claim the state pension once you reach state pension age. This is currently set at 66 for both men and women. It is set to gradually rise to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028 and then to 68 between 2044 and 2046 – although there has been speculation that the latter rise could be brought forward.

When will the state pension be paid to me?

After you’ve made a claim for the state pension, you will get a letter about your payments, which will usually be paid every four weeks into an account of your choice. Note that you're paid in arrears. The payment day depends on your National Insurance number, although you might be paid earlier if your normal payment day falls on a bank holiday.

Who has been underpaid their state pension?

The DWP has been subject to severe criticism in recent years as millions of pounds in state pension underpayments are owed to pensioners dating as far back as 1985. The issues tend to centre on married women who were entitled to a state pension based on their husband’s National Insurance contribution record.

However, in many cases this increase did not take place, meaning that the women received a smaller state pension than they should have. More recently, divorced men and women have been urged to check their state pensions in case there have been errors calculating their payments.

Between 11 January 2021 and 31 March 2025, the government has identified 130,948 state pension underpayments, owing pensioners £804.7 million.

This is part of a historic correction exercise – kicked off in March 2021 – undertaken by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to check hundreds of thousands of pension records to establish if pensioners have been underpaid.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has previously estimated the correction exercise could eventually cost the DWP almost £3 billion.

The DWP has confirmed to the Work and Pensions Committee that they have completed the vast majority of reviews, but are still waiting for people to contact them with information meaning the exercise won’t be fully completed until March 2027.

You can check whether you may have been underpaid by using this tool on the LCP website, and make a claim directly to the DWP if you have been underpaid. While the DWP is attempting to correct these underpayments, there remain thousands of pensioners who have been underpaid, in some cases going back decades.

Can I still get the state pension if I retire abroad?

So long as you have built up a sufficient number of qualifying years of National Insurance contributions, then you can still receive the state pension even if you choose to retire abroad.

You will need to start claiming the pension within four months of hitting the state pension age, and you can do so by contacting the International Pension Centre. You can choose for the pension to be paid either every four weeks or every 13 weeks.

Your state pension will go up each year as long as you retire in a country that is within the European Economic Area, Gibraltar, Switzerland – or to a country with a social security agreement with the UK.

It means if you move to countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India or South Africa, your state pension will be frozen and you won’t benefit from the triple lock.

If you're wondering how the UK state pension compares to those in other countries, check out our guide to the countries with the most generous pensions.