Southerners have a pension pot almost twice the size of Northerners
Welsh making the most regular pension contributions
Northern Irish putting the most into their pension
Londoners set to retire on a quarter of their current income

PensionBee has examined a sample of 5,098 savers, looking at how average pot size and pension contributions vary across the country.

According to the analysis the average pot size across the UK is £21,441, although this figure doesn’t appear to be split evenly across Britain’s towns and cities. In North East England the average pot sits at £14,513 - the lowest figure in the study - while in South East England the average is £28,183, making these savers the best provided for in the country.

Region	Average pension (£)	Sample
England	21,730	4,544
East Midlands	15,531	435
Greater London	24,503	1,605
North East	14,513	303
North West	15,509	492
South East	28,183	991
South West	16,356	393
West Midlands	19,203	325
Northern Ireland	14,796	60
Scotland	21,482	337
Wales	15,473	157
United Kingdom	21,441	5,098

Source: PensionBee. Note many customers will have additional pensions to transfer to PensionBee, but we do not believe this impacts any particular region disproportionately.

The findings provide yet more evidence of a divided nation, with swathes of Northern England netting a pension that’s almost half the size of southern pots.

The North-South split in England also spreads out to the UK’s constituent countries, with Wales (£15,473) Northern Ireland (£14,796) and Scotland (£21,482) all struggling to match southern pots. However, PensionBee’s contribution data suggests that certain regions might still close the gap.

According to their analysis 40% of Welsh customers are contributing every month, making Wales home to the UK’s keenest savers (Appendix A). However, it’s the Northern Irish that lead in terms of contribution size, with savers in this region putting around £310 per month into their pension (Appendix B).

Thanks to these sizeable contributions Northern Irish savers can expect a pot of £144,100 at retirement, an amount that’s only second to the £149,900 savers in the South East can expect (Appendix C). There’s an indication that a big pot won’t necessarily give you the same standard of life in retirement though, as reflected by PensionBee’s replacement ratio research. Despite a potential pot of £135,200, Londoners are set to live on 22% of their current income - the lowest overall percentage in the analysis (Appendix D) – and this figure includes the state pension.

Speaking on the findings Romi Savova, CEO of PensionBee said: “The data clearly shows that the most important part of a pension is how much you put in. The government has made it attractive to save and as an industry we need to do the same, by improving customer service and embracing technology. We’re passionate about taking the lead on this and closing the pension gap across the country”.

Note to Editors

Romi Savova, CEO of PensionBee available for interview or comments.

For more information, please contact:

Jasper Martens
020 3859 5788
press@pensionbee.com

Appendices

We compared 5,098 individuals with PensionBee pensions, who are broadly distributed like the general UK population between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, albeit with a slightly higher concentration in London.

The sample includes 1,375 women, representing 27% of the sample and 3,723 men, representing the remaining 73% of the sample. The sample represents an age group of 22-63 years with an average age of 37. The average salary of the sample group is £46,883, so higher than that of the broader UK figure of £30,537, according to figures from Monster.

Appendix A: Average propensity to contribute

Region	Propensity to contribute (%)	Sample
England	32	4,544
East Midlands	34	435
Greater London	32	1,605
North East	33	303
North West	30	492
South East	29	991
South West	35	393
West Midlands	33	325
Northern Ireland	30	60
Scotland	32	337
Wales	40	157
United Kingdom	32	5,098

Source: PensionBee.

Appendix B: Average gross and net monthly contributions

Region	Average net monthly contribution (£)	Average gross monthly contribution (£)
England	204	256
East Midlands	98	123
Greater London	227	284
North East	204	255
North West	116	145
South East	282	353
South West	133	166
West Midlands	211	264
Northern Ireland	310	388
Scotland	209	261
Wales	263	329
United Kingdom	207	259

Source: PensionBee. Note we only considered monthly contributions. Total sample size of 546.

Appendix C: Expected pension pot size and annual income

Region	Pension pot at age 65 (£)	Expected annual income
England	117,300	12,617
East Midlands	64,600	10,577
Greater London	135,200	13,217
North East	102,500	12,017
North West	71,800	10,937
South East	149,900	13,817
South West	77,800	11,117
West Midlands	112,700	12,377
Northern Ireland	144,100	13,577
Scotland	111,900	12,377
Wales	122,800	12,737
United Kingdom	118,200	12,617

Source: PensionBee. We have assumed the pension grows at an annual rate of 5% and that annual charges are 0.7%. Inflation of 2.5% reduces the rate of return. It is assumed that the pot is converted into an annuity at the age of 65 and the annuity rate is 2%. The annuity expense ratio is 4%. We have assumed individuals take their 25% tax free lump sum prior to purchasing an annuity. The full state pension at current levels has been included in the expected annual income.

Appendix D: Average salaries and replacement ratios in retirement, including the state pension

Region	Salary (£)	Replacement ratio (%)
England	48,344	26
East Midlands	32,303	33
Greater London	60,037	22
North East	37,819	32
North West	39,461	28
South East	54,151	26
South West	32,633	34
West Midlands	39,623	31
Northern Ireland	32,168	42
Scotland	35,427	35
Wales	37,442	34
United Kingdom	46,883	27

Source: PensionBee. Forecasting assumptions as above.

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