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Join Which? MoneyState pension set to rise by £488 in 2027
Pensioners could see an above-inflation rise in state pension payments from April 2027
With a background in financial journalism across national titles, Ruby loves helping people take control of their money and specialises in pensions, tax, banking and benefits.
The state pension is to rise by £488 a year from April 2027, according to new data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Each year, the state pension goes up thanks to the 'triple lock'. This means payments are guaranteed to increase by either September's inflation figure, average earnings growth between May and July, or 2.5% – whichever is higher.
Today's wage growth figures for the period sat at 3.9%.
Andy Burnham's government has confirmed it will stick to the triple lock promise, and with CPI inflation at just 2.9% in the year to July, wage growth is widely expected to determine the April 2027 uplift. However, it is not confirmed.
This increase means the state pension will surpass the personal tax allowance for the first time, meaning it will be taxed.
Here, Which? explains how much the state pension will pay in 2027 and how to check your state pension forecast.
How much will the state pension pay in 2027?
You can claim the state pension when you reach state pension age.
Men born on or after 6 April 1951 and women born on or after 6 April 1953 can claim the new state pension. Those born before these dates can claim the older basic state pension.
Here's how much the full new state pension and the basic state pension currently pay, and how much they will pay from next April if it rises with wage growth data:
New state pension
| Year | Weekly payment (2026) | Annual amount (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 (current) | £241.30 | £12,547.60 |
| 2027-28 (3.9% increase) | £250.70 | £13,027 |
| Increase of | £9.40 | £488.80 |
Basic state pension
| Year | Weekly payment | Annual amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 (current) | £184.90 | £9,614 |
| 2027-28 (3.9% increase) | £192.10 | £9,988.40 |
| Increase of | £7.20 | £374.40 |
The weekly state pension payment is usually rounded to the nearest 5p when the rise is applied.
Will you have to pay tax on your state pension?
The state pension is treated in the same way as other types of income for tax purposes.
You can earn up to £12,570 during a tax year before any tax is due (known as the personal allowance).
If your total income from all sources – including the state pension – is greater than your personal allowance, then you'll need to pay tax on the amount that exceeds it. This will normally be deducted from any private pension or earnings you have, paid through the PAYE system.
If you have no PAYE income, you have to complete a self-assessment tax return and pay any tax due directly to HMRC.
Next year's state pension increase will take the annual amount over the personal allowance. This means pensioners will have to pay tax on the portion of income over it.
The state pension is taxed by taking one week at the old rate (£241.30) and 51 weeks at the new rate (£250.70).
According to calculations by Lane Clark and Peacock (LCP), this totals £13,027 a year and means someone wholly dependent on the new state pension could pay 20% tax on the excess over the personal allowance, or £91.40.
In the 2025 Autumn Budget, former Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the personal allowance would remain at its current level until 2031.
It was also confirmed that those receiving only the state pension, and no other income such as private pensions or rental income, would not pay tax on it. However, how this would be implemented has not yet been confirmed.
Steve Webb, partner at LCP, said: 'Based on today’s figures, it is highly likely that it will be average earnings growth which comes out on top. Those on the new state pension can expect to see an increase of nearly £500 a year next April.
'But the sting in the tail is that this will take the standard rate of the new state pension above the tax threshold.
'The government’s plans to address this point are a mess, and likely to benefit only a small fraction of pensioners. They will also create unfairness between different groups of pensioners and between pensioners and low-paid workers, who do not qualify for any exemption.'
- Find out more: income tax explained.
Have you checked your state pension forecast?
According to HMRC research, one in eight adults (12.5%) has never checked their state pension forecast. The main group unlikely to have checked is 45 to 54-year-olds.
HMRC notes that this is concerning as this age range is a 'key time' for retirement planning.
Common reasons for delaying include feeling retirement is still too far away to think about (26%), worrying about losing track of pension pots from previous jobs (24%), and concerns about how career breaks might affect their entitlement (20%).
Some say they simply don’t know how to check their state pension (9.5%) or think it would be too complicated (5%), while 17% say they only think about their pension at major financial moments, such as the start of a new tax year.
- Find out more: state pension age calculator.
How to check your state pension forecast
If you're eligible for the state pension, you'll receive it when you reach state pension age. This is currently 66 for women and men, but it's due to rise further.
Between 2026 and 2028, it will gradually rise to 67 for those born on or after April 1960, with another gradual rise to 68 between 2044 and 2046 for those born in or after 1977.
How much state pension you'll get depends on how many 'qualifying years' of National Insurance contributions you have. For the new state pension, most people need 35 qualifying years on their National Insurance record to receive the full amount, and typically 10 years to get anything at all.
To get the full basic state pension, you again need a specific number of qualifying years of National Insurance contributions. For men, this is:
- 30 years if you were born between 1945 and 1951
- 44 years if you were born before 1945.
For women, this is:
- 30 years if you were born between 1950 and 1953
- 39 years if you were born before 1950.
You can receive more than the full level of the new state pension if you built up additional state pension under the old system. This was a top-up to the previous basic state pension and was also known as the state second pension (S2P) or state earnings-related pension scheme (Serps).
If you haven't yet reached state pension age, you can use an online government tool to check your state pension forecast. This will tell you how much you can get, when you can start receiving payments, and whether you can increase them.
This story has been updated since it was first published to include wage growth data published by the ONS on 15 September 2026.
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