UK pension schemes hit £1,051 billion combined market value

The £50 billion increase — equivalent to 5 per cent — took the combined market value from £1,001 billion on 30 September 2025 to £1,051 billion on 31 March 2026, according to figures posted by the ONS. The schemes covered are private sector defined contribution, public sector defined benefit, and public sector hybrid pension schemes included in the ONS Financial Survey of Pension Schemes.

That rate of growth is slower than the preceding six months. Between 31 March and 30 September 2025, the same combined measure rose from £871 billion to £945 billion — a £74 billion increase, or 8 per cent, compared with the 5 per cent recorded in the latest period.

The ONS cautions that its figures measure market value at a point in time and should not be read as the total value of all UK pension rights, nor as a forecast of what any individual will receive in retirement. A higher market value reflects stronger asset valuations on the measurement date; it does not, by itself, determine a member’s pension income. For defined benefit and hybrid schemes, funding positions also depend on liabilities and actuarial assumptions that sit separately from market value.

The precise investment drivers behind the £50 billion rise — whether from pooled investment vehicles, equity movements, or other asset classes — are not identified in the available ONS data.

Kent County Council’s Pension Fund recorded a value of £9.4 billion on 31 March 2026, according to a Kent County Council Pension Board document, down from a previously reported £9.5 billion. The local fund figure is not directly comparable with the ONS national total, which covers selected categories of funded occupational schemes across the UK.

The Financial Survey of Pension Schemes covers all funded public sector defined benefit and hybrid schemes continuously, alongside private sector defined benefit and hybrid schemes with 10,000 or more members, and private sector defined contribution schemes with 25,000 or more members. The component breakdown for the March 2026 figures could not be independently verified from the available official data at the time of publication.