The number of employees savings into workplace pensions has continued to increase, according to the latest government statistics.
Figures from the Department of Work & Pensions show that 22.6m eligible employees contributed via auto-enrolment pensions in 2025.
This an increase of 0.6m people when compared to the previous year — a 1 percentage point increase in the number of eligible employees saving for retirement.
Overall, the government figures show around nine in 10 eligible employees saved into a workplace pension last year. This puts the overall participation of all employees (in Great Britain) standing at around 82 per cent.
The DWP data shows that total annual workplace pension savings for eligible savers was £166.1bn. This is a £63.5bn real terms increase compared to 2012 — in 2025 earnings terms.
In 2025, contributions by employees accounted for 27 per cent of saving, with employer contributions accounting for 61 per cent, and income tax relief on the employee contribution the remaining 12 per cent.
However, it said there are noticeable differences in the distribution of contributions when comparing across the private and public sector.
This data set now also includes information on how people are accessing these pension savings.
It points out that AE has increased the number of pension savers over the last 13 years and as a result, there is an increase in the number of people accessing a pension.
Its figures show that 94 per cent of people receiving a pension income still receive income from either a DB plan or an annuity. But it says this is slowly changing a s a result of the switch to DC and the introduction of pension freedoms.
When assessing private pensions accessed for the first time, the proportion of people receiving a lump sum or other DC product has risen from 37 per cent (280,000) in the 2016/17 financial year to 49 per cent (410,000) in the 2025/26 financial year.
The DWP data also gives information on AE savers who stop making contributions. However it says that the number of active savers who stop saving each quarter as a proportion of total active savers has been broadly stable over multiple years.
However it says these figures are more volatile for those who have more recently started saving via AE, which will include a greater proportion of younger savers and this eon lower incomes who have been brought into AE by the frozen trigger limits. It says the rising cost of living could be impacting decisions to stop contribution.
The figures show that the number of people who have newly started saving and actively opted out, as a proportion of newly started savers, has risen to around 11-12% in the last year.
The figures release by the DWP also show the number of people contributing to a persona pension has declined, as have the number of self-employed people contributing to a pension.
Scottish Widows managing director, pensions and retirement Graeme Bold says: “These figures provide a powerful picture of the progress made since automatic enrolment was introduced. In 2012, around 11.6m employees were saving into a workplace pension – a number that has now more than doubled to 24.2m in 2025.
“This momentum has also seen engagement change. Among those accessing a private pension for the first time, more are taking a lump sum or accessing pension-related benefits year-on-year – showing that people aren’t just saving into their pension, but exercising their use of pension freedoms and deciding how to take their benefits.”
People’s Pension proposition director Kirsty Ross adds: “Today’s figures suggest that, even when household budgets are under pressure, most people continue to recognise the value of saving through a workplace pension.
“The challenge now isn’t simply maintaining participation, it’s ensuring people remain committed and confident in the long-term value of their pension contributions, even when day-to-day finances are stretched. For many employees, retirement can feel a long way off, so regular, relevant communications are vital in helping them understand the value of both employee and employer contributions, tax relief and the role workplace pensions play in their wider financial future.
“Employers have an important role to play in keeping pensions relevant throughout someone’s career. Building understanding and confidence over time will help ensure workplace pensions remain one of the strongest foundations of long-term financial security.”
Quilter retirement specialist Adam Cole says: “The latest workplace pension statistics do offer some hope to the retirement savings of the UK, with 90 per cent of employees in the UK now saving into a workplace pension.
“Auto-enrolment has been a huge success story and has addressed a lot of the severe undersaving we had for retirement.”
He adds: “Interestingly, we are also almost at a point where DC pensions are more likely to be accessed for the first time over final salaried ones or annuities. The pension landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade and much of this is now starting to play out and become the new normal.
“For most employees (outside of the public sector) the days of generous DB schemes are long gone. The responsibility for saving for retirement now lays squarely on our own shoulders. It is vital therefore that efforts continue to be made to not only push workplace saving, but ensuring people are considering voluntary saving too, particularly given the Pension Commission is considering what to do with auto-enrolment contribution rates to make sure savers can target an adequate retirement.”
