Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) single pensioners and (b) couples receive a full old basic state pension.

The pre-2016 State Pension system for those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 consisted of a basic State Pension, an earnings-related additional State Pension and Graduated Retirement Benefit. (If people were contracted out of the additional State Pension, they will have a workplace or private pension instead.) People may also have derived some basic State Pension from a spouse or civil partner’s National Insurance record or inherited some State Pension from a deceased spouse or civil partner. There is no full rate of additional State Pension or Graduated Retirement Benefit as the amount an individual receives will vary depending on their earnings, the amount of contributions they have paid and whether they were contracted out of the State scheme.

As of March 2025, around 5.8 million received the full basic State Pension. Source: Department for Work and Pensions Quarterly Statistical Enquiry 5% sample March 2025. Numbers have been grossed up to 100% and rounded to the nearest 0.1 million.

State Pension is paid on an individual basis. Data on State Pension incomes by relationship status (single pensioners and couples) is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.