Overview
- The full new state pension will rise to £241.30 a week (about £12,547.60 a year) and the full basic rate to £184.90 a week (about £9,614.80 a year).
- The government reaffirmed its triple lock pledge, with around 12–13 million pensioners set to benefit from the uprating.
- Voluntary Class 2 National Insurance payments for people living abroad will be abolished as residency and work requirements are increased.
- The personal allowance freeze is extended, increasing fiscal drag, and from April 2027 small tax bills for those only on the state pension will be handled via Simple Assessment.
- Pre‑2016 claimants on the basic pension see a smaller cash increase than those on the new pension, deepening the two‑tier gap, while analysts warn the payout still falls short of basic living‑cost benchmarks.