Pensions - Articles - Comment on latest pension freedoms statistics from HMRC

 HMRC have issued their latest statistics on the use of pension freedoms. The full figures are here

 As you will see, between fiscal 16/17 and 17/18 as a whole, the scale of withdrawals had stabilised, with total withdrawals around the £6.5 billion mark in each year and 375,00-400,00 individuals making withdrawals each year.

 But the first data for 18/19 (ie 2018 Q2) seems to show a marked increase. In Q2 of this year a record £2.27 billion was withdrawn, compared with £1.7 billion the previous quarter. This seems to have been driven both by a rise in the numbers withdrawing (up from 222,000 to 264,000) and the average withdrawal (up from around £7,600 to around £8,600).

 It is obviously too soon to know if this is the start of a longer-term trend.

 Commenting, Steve Webb, Director of Policy at Royal London, said: ‘These figures show the continuing popularity of pension freedoms. In the latest three months over a quarter of a million people took the opportunity to make flexible withdrawals from their pension, and withdrawals were at a record level. The key challenge is to make sure that more people take advice and guidance when deciding how to access their pension savings so that they do so in a sustainable way that meets their objectives’.