Roughly 453,000 expats state pensioners living abroad won’t see the increase, as there is no reciprocal agreement in place to boost state pensions yearly in certain countries
Nearly half a million older Brits will miss out when the state pension rises next year.
The state pension looks set to rise by 4.7% next April thanks to the triple lock promise. The triple lock guarantees the state pension goes up every year by whichever is highest out of inflation (using the previous September inflation figure), wages (average growth between May and July) or 2.5%.
This week, average wage growth was confirmed as 4.7% by the Office for National Statistics. Inflation is now at 3.8%, which means it now looks likely that the state pension will rise by the rate of wage growth.
However, roughly 453,000 expats state pensioners living abroad won’t see the increase, as there is no reciprocal agreement in place to boost state pensions yearly in certain countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
If your state pension is frozen, it remains at the rate from when you first emigrated. Your pension will go up to the current rate if you return to live in the UK.
You will only see your state pension increased every year when abroad if you live in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, or in country that has a social security agreement with the UK, apart from Canada and New Zealand.
If the 4.7% increase is confirmed, the full new state pension would increase from £230.25 a week (£11,973 a year) to £241.05 a week (£12,534.60 per year) in April 2026. This marks a yearly increase of more than £560.
The old basic state pension would increase from £176.45 a week (£9,175.40 a year) to £184.75 a week (£9,607 a year). These are the full amounts of state pension that you can get. You may receive less than these amounts depending on your National Insurance record.
For the new state pension, most people need 35 qualifying years on their National Insurance record to get the full amount, and normally ten years to get anything at all. State pensions are paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Full list of countries where your state pension WILL increase
EEA countries and Switzerland
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Countries the UK has a social security agreement with
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Gibraltar
- Guernsey
- the Isle of Man
- Israel
- Jamaica
- Jersey
- Kosovo
- Mauritius
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- the Philippines
- Serbia
- Turkey
- USA
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