Lost UK pension pots now amount to at least £18.7bn, according to the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), with the average lost pot valued at £6,200.
Findings from a PPI survey – Lost Pensions: The scale of the challenge – show 82% of lost pension pots are held by members aged under 55, accounting for approximately 2.5 million of all lost pots and £12.9bn of total lost assets.
At the other end of the scale, only 8,000 or 0.3% of all lost pots belong to those over the age of 75, although this demographic has the highest proportion of lost pots per age group, with 13% of all pots linked to over 75-year-olds considered lost.
The results also show women’s lost pension wealth is over 20% lower on average, with the mean lost pension pot size for men and women sitting at £6,900 and £5,400 respectively.
Exploratory evidence on Defined Benefit (DB) pensions included in the survey also suggested there are lost DB entitlements across different scheme types that may affect member outcomes.
Suzy Morrissey, deputy director of the Pensions Policy Institute, said: “As the PPI’s new figures show, lost pension pots remain a significant issue for savers, providers, and policymakers.
Oliver Morley, CEO of the Money and Pensions Service, which supported the study, said: “With around 2.5 million lost pensions belonging to people aged under 55, there is a need to ensure no-one is missing savings for the retirement they want.
“The MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard being developed by MaPS, expected to launch in financial year 2027/28, will help tackle this problem. As well as a single overview of pensions in one place, a dashboard will show pensions that people may have lost touch with.
“While this is only part of the important work to ensure people have the retirement savings they need, it is a vital part of making planning for later life easier.”
