A UK pension pot at 60 has no single average: official figures show medians of £99,000 for men and £63,000 for women aged 60 to 64.
Those two numbers come from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and they hide a lot, which is why this page explains how to read them. Your own pot matters more than a survey median. Totting up every pension you have, final salary ones too, takes an FCA-authorised adviser one free phone conversation, yours for the asking via the form on this page.
What is the average UK pension pot at 60?
DWP's estimates, drawn from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Wealth and Assets Survey for Great Britain in 2020 to 2022, give a median private pension wealth of £99,000 for men and £63,000 for women aged 60 to 64. For the band just before, ages 55 to 59, the medians were £156,000 for men and £81,000 for women. The median is the middle person: half of people in the group hold more, half hold less.
Two details change how far you can lean on those figures. The 55 to 59 headline medians count only people who have some private pension wealth, and the survey has to estimate the value of any pension that is not a pot of money. The sections below take each in turn. Neither figure is a target: both describe what people held, not what they needed.
Average pension pot by age: what the survey found
Here is the same DWP table for the age bands either side of 60, so you can see where your own age sits. The amounts are median private pension wealth in pounds.
| Age band | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 25 to 29 | £15,000 | £12,000 |
| 30 to 34 | £36,000 | £16,000 |
| 40 to 44 | £58,000 | £44,000 |
| 45 to 49 | £100,000 | £48,000 |
| 50 to 54 | £102,000 | £63,000 |
| 55 to 59 | £156,000 | £81,000 |
| 60 to 64 | £99,000 | £63,000 |
| 65 to 69 | £89,000 | £60,000 |
Source: DWP estimates of ONS Wealth and Assets Survey data, Great Britain, 2020 to 2022, published 21 July 2025.
The line does not rise steadily. Of the bands shown, median wealth is highest at 55 to 59 and lower at 60 to 64. For its headline 55 to 59 measure, DWP counts private pension wealth that is "active or preserved" and not yet paid out, leaves out anyone who has turned all of it into an income, and counts a part-used pot only for what is left. Each band is a different group of people surveyed over the same period, so the dip after 59 is a snapshot, not one person's pot shrinking with age.
The gap between women and men is the subject of its own page, pensions for women in the UK.
Why the average pension pot at 60 can mislead
Five things make any single pot figure a shaky benchmark.
Some people are left out
The headline 55 to 59 figures exclude people with nothing in a private pension. Put them back in and the picture changes: the median falls to £85,000 for men and £32,000 for women. The share with some private pension wealth around that age was 82% of men and 78% of women in 2020 to 2022, against 77% and 63% in 2006 to 2008, when the minimum pension age was 50 and DWP measured ages 50 to 54.
Estimates, not statements
DWP says users should treat the results "with a degree of uncertainty and caution", and it uses confidence intervals to show how sensitive the medians are. The ONS changed how it values defined benefit pensions for this round, so the figures cannot be set beside earlier releases. The ONS has also said that accreditation of the survey has been suspended from this round while it works to improve quality, and that the data were collected during the pandemic. Treat the numbers as the best published guide, not a precise count.
A median is not your pension
Half the people in each band hold more than the median and half less, so being below it says little about whether your own plans work. What counts is what you need, which depends on your spending, your State Pension and your health. For that, how much pension you need sets pots against retirement living costs, and pension contributions by age looks at what to put in.
People now in their sixties saved under older rules
Automatic enrolment arrived part way through many working lives. DWP notes that among eligible people aged 40 to 49 in 2012, 62% were participating in a workplace pension, and that 11 years later 88% of that group, now aged 50 to State Pension age, were. DWP suggests lower coverage before automatic enrolment might explain why the gap between women and men is larger in older age groups than in younger ones. Either way, the medians show what past savers built, and the position for someone starting out today may differ. The auto-enrolment rules explain who is enrolled now.
One survey and one period
The figures cover Great Britain over a single survey round. Any claim about the average pension pot that does not name the survey, the age band and whether people with no pension are counted is not one you can check.
Defined benefit and defined contribution pensions in these figures
Many pension "pots" in the table are not pots at all. A defined contribution (DC) pension is a pot of money. A defined benefit (DB) pension, such as a final salary scheme, pays an income based on salary and years of service, so its value is worked out rather than read off a statement. DWP's release says that DB pensions do not exist as a pot of money and the value must be estimated, and that DB schemes largely remain in the public sector.
That is why the same age band can look so different depending on what people hold. For ages 55 to 59, DWP's medians were:
| Type of pension wealth | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| DB only | £183,000 | £111,000 |
| DC only | £75,000 | £19,000 |
| Both DB and DC | £323,000 | £154,000 |
Source: DWP estimates of ONS Wealth and Assets Survey data, Great Britain, 2020 to 2022.
A DC pot of £75,000 and a DB pension valued at £183,000 are not the same kind of thing, and a combined average blends them. If you have a final salary or career-average pension, how a final salary pension works explains what it pays. Should you want it, how a final salary pension sits alongside any pots you hold is a question the FCA-authorised adviser calling about the form answers at no cost.
What does a pension pot at 60 turn into as income?
DWP's July 2025 release gives one illustration: using an annuity rate for a 60-year-old of around 7%, the medians for ages 55 to 59 would convert to around £6,000 a year for women and around £11,000 a year for men. That is DWP's illustrative working, not a quote, and annuity rates move, so a provider's own quote is the only reliable figure for your pot. A lifetime annuity is one way of using a pot, set out in how a pension annuity works; the alternative is leaving the money invested and drawing from it, covered in pension drawdown. Drawing from invested money means its value can drop as well as climb, so what you can draw later may be smaller than what went in.
The State Pension sits on top of any pot. For 2026/27, DWP sets the full new State Pension at £241.30 weekly, and the State Pension explained sets out how yours is worked out. How long a pot lasts is a separate question, answered in how long a pension pot lasts.
Where to see what your own pension pot is worth
Start with what you can see. Each provider shows a current value in a statement or online account, and getting a pension forecast covers how to turn those values and your State Pension into a projected income. The best pension calculators can show roughly what a pot could pay.
Gather the latest statement for each pension, note whether it is a pot or a promised income, and write down the date of each value, because pot values move with markets. Old workplace pensions from past jobs are easy to overlook, so include them in the list.
Before you take anything, Pension Wise is the free route: MoneyHelper says "A free Pension Wise appointment explains the options for taking money from your defined contribution pension." The service is impartial and government-backed. Pension Wise covers defined contribution pensions; a call set up through this page's form can also take in a final salary pension and your State Pension.
For the wider picture, retirement planning in the UK shows how the steps fit together, and the options for a defined contribution pot sets out what you can do with one. If your own picture is thin, what happens if you do not have a pension is the place to start.
Pot sizes at 50, 55 and 65: common questions
What is the average private pension at 55?
For ages 55 to 59, DWP's 2020 to 2022 medians were £156,000 for men and £81,000 for women among people with some private pension wealth. Counting people with none, they were £85,000 and £32,000.
How much should I have in my pension by my early fifties?
The survey's medians for those aged 50 to 54 were £102,000 for men and £63,000 for women, but those are what people held, not what they needed. The right figure for you depends on the income you want, which pension contributions by age and how much pension you need help you work out.
What is the average pension pot after 65?
In the 65 to 69 band, the medians were £89,000 for men and £60,000 for women.
What if I have no private pension at 55?
You are in a minority, though not alone: 82% of men and 78% of women around that age had some private pension wealth in 2020 to 2022. The State Pension and any other income then matter more, and retiring without a pension covers the options.
How much should I have saved if I am close to 57?
DWP's closest figure is the 55 to 59 band above. Normal minimum pension age stands at 55 and goes up to 57 in 2028, and when you can start taking your pension gives the exact date and the exceptions for some people.
Wherever you sit against the medians, a short chat can sort out what your own total means, and this page's call-back request is free.