The value of any pension pots already accrued that are not state basic retirement or state earning related. This includes occupational pensions, personal pensions, retained rights in previous pensions and pensions in payment.

Graph and download economic data for Pension Entitlements Held by the Top 0.1% (99.9th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (DISCONTINUED) (WFRBLTP1250) from Q3 1989 to Q1 2022 about pension, wealth, percentile, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Pension Entitlements Held by the 99th to 99.9th Wealth Percentiles (DISCONTINUED) (WFRBL99T999223) from Q3 1989 to Q1 2022 about pension, wealth, percentile, and USA.

Pension wealth by type of pension, type of company, age, population, taxation and unit | gimi9.com

The impact of methods changes on total pensions wealth.

Graph and download economic data for Share of Defined Benefit Pension Entitlements Held by the Top 1% (99th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBSTOP1DBP) from Q3 1989 to Q1 2025 about shares, pension, wealth, percentile, benefits, and USA.

The British Household Panel Survey Pension Wealth Derived Variable Data, 1991-2001 contain estimates of respondents' pension wealth in each year from 1991 to 2001, which were derived from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) by making use of the additional questions about private pensions which were included in BHPS Wave 11. As a result, these measures of pension wealth are only available for individuals who responded to Wave 11 of the BHPS. The data comprise information on accrued and projected pension wealth. See documentation for further details.

The main BHPS study is held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33196.

For the second edition (May 2008), a new version of the data and documentation have been deposited due to an error in the pension wealth measures for 2000.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) is a longitudinal survey, which aims to address gaps identified in data about the economic well-being of households by gathering information on level of assets, savings and debt; saving for retirement; how wealth is distributed among households or individuals; and factors that affect financial planning. Private households in Great Britain were sampled for the survey (meaning that people in residential institutions, such as retirement homes, nursing homes, prisons, barracks or university halls of residence, and also homeless people were not included).

The WAS commenced in July 2006, with a first wave of interviews carried out over two years, to June 2008. Interviews were achieved with 30,595 households at Wave 1. Those households were approached again for a Wave 2 interview between July 2008 and June 2010, and 20,170 households took part. Wave 3 covered July 2010 - June 2012, Wave 4 covered July 2012 - June 2014 and Wave 5 covered July 2014 - June 2016. Revisions to previous waves' data mean that small differences may occur between originally published estimates and estimates from the datasets held by the UK Data Service. Data are revised on a wave by wave basis, as a result of backwards imputation from the current wave's data. These revisions are due to improvements in the imputation methodology.

Note from the WAS team - November 2023:

“The Office for National Statistics has identified a very small number of outlier cases present in the seventh round of the Wealth and Assets Survey covering the period April 2018 to March 2020. Our current approach is to treat cases where we have reasonable evidence to suggest the values provided for specific variables are outliers. This approach did not occur for two individuals for several variables involved in the estimation of their pension wealth. While we estimate any impacts are very small overall and median pension wealth and median total wealth estimates are unaffected, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of the pension wealth within the wealthiest decile, and data derived from them. We are urging caution in the interpretation of more detailed estimates.”

Survey Periodicity - "Waves" to "Rounds"
Due to the survey periodicity moving from “Waves” (July, ending in June two years later) to “Rounds” (April, ending in March two years later), interviews using the ‘Wave 6’ questionnaire started in July 2016 and were conducted for 21 months, finishing in March 2018. Data for round 6 covers the period April 2016 to March 2018. This comprises of the last three months of Wave 5 (April to June 2016) and 21 months of Wave 6 (July 2016 to March 2018). Round 5 and Round 6 datasets are based on a mixture of original wave-based datasets. Each wave of the survey has a unique questionnaire and therefore each of these round-based datasets are based on two questionnaires. While there may be some changes in the questionnaires, the derived variables for the key wealth estimates have not changed over this period. The aim is to collect the same data, though in some cases the exact questions asked may differ slightly. Detailed information on Moving the Wealth and Assets Survey onto a financial years’ basis was published on the ONS website in July 2019.

A Secure Access version of the WAS, subject to more stringent access conditions, is available under SN 6709; it contains more detailed geographic variables than the EUL version. Users are advised to download the EUL version first (SN 7215) to see if it is suitable for their needs, before considering making an application for the Secure Access version.

Further information and documentation may be found on the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey webpage. Users are advised to the check the page for updates before commencing analysis.

Occupation data for 2021 and 2022 data files

The ONS have identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in 2021 and 2022 data files in a number of their surveys. While they estimate any impacts will be small overall, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of some detailed (four-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) occupations, and data derived from them. None of ONS' headline statistics, other than those directly sourced from occupational data, are affected and you can continue to rely on their accuracy. For further information on this issue, please see: https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/occupationaldatainonssurveys.

The data dictionary for round 8 person file is not available.

Latest edition information

For the 19th edition (February 2025), the round 8 data files and documentation have been added to the study. Values labels for variable "ILnUse01W4" in the file "was_wave_4_person_eul_oct_2020" have also...

United States - Private Defined Benefit Pension Plan: Effect of participation in defined benefit plans on personal income, saving, and wealth: Effect on personal saving was 148.00100 Bil. of $ in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Private Defined Benefit Pension Plan: Effect of participation in defined benefit plans on personal income, saving, and wealth: Effect on personal saving reached a record high of 195.42700 in January of 2008 and a record low of 74.58900 in January of 1985. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Private Defined Benefit Pension Plan: Effect of participation in defined benefit plans on personal income, saving, and wealth: Effect on personal saving - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on June of 2025.

United States - Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Effect of participation in defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans on personal income, saving, and wealth: Effect on personal saving was 1284.28800 Bil. of $ in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Effect of participation in defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans on personal income, saving, and wealth: Effect on personal saving reached a record high of 1284.28800 in January of 2023 and a record low of 284.42200 in January of 1984. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Effect of participation in defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans on personal income, saving, and wealth: Effect on personal saving - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on June of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Total Defined Benefit Pension Entitlements Held by the 90th to 99th Wealth Percentiles (WFRBLDBPN09) from Q3 1989 to Q4 2024 about pension, wealth, percentile, benefits, and USA.

The total assets of pension funds in the United States was over ** times as high as those in United Kingdom in 2023. With these large pension funds, the United States was the leading market in terms of pension assets that year, with a value of approximately ** trillion U.S. dollars. The United Kingdom was the ************** market in the ranking, with assets amounting to over *** trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. Netherlands was the ***** largest market, despite its relatively small size, but the largest market when compared to the size of its own economy.

Russia National Wealth Fund: RUB Expenditure: Personal Pension Savings data was reported at 0.000 RUB mn in Dec 2019. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 RUB mn for Nov 2019. Russia National Wealth Fund: RUB Expenditure: Personal Pension Savings data is updated monthly, averaging 0.000 RUB mn from Jan 2008 (Median) to Dec 2019, with 144 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9,428.149 RUB mn in Apr 2015 and a record low of -19.956 RUB mn in Aug 2016. Russia National Wealth Fund: RUB Expenditure: Personal Pension Savings data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Treasury. The data is categorized under Russia Premium Database’s Government and Public Finance – Table RU.FE002: National Wealth Fund: Cash Flow.

Preliminary estimates for Great Britain from the Wealth and Assets Survey using attitudinal data on individuals' attitudes towards pensions, not dependent on thorough checking and imputation methodology.

The Netherlands had among the highest assets under management (AUM) of pension funds within the EU-27 in 2024. Dutch pension funds had roughly 1.93 trillion euros worth of total assets, 2024. It is compulsory in the Netherlands to participate in a pension fund when you are employed. Part of one’s salary is transferred to a pension fund each month. These payments are used to invest further in order to provide a future supplement to the state pension (called AOW), a base income for any person who lives or works in the Netherlands after the employee retires. Because of this system, pension funds make up the majority of the financial assets of households in the country. Financial health of pension funds is important to the Netherlands Simply put, the Dutch pension system forces citizens to set money aside for later. The reliance on pension funds does mean, however, that authorities must keep a close eye that the funds have enough financial reserves to actually pay the retirees. An important way of measuring this is the so-called policy funding ratio (in Dutch: dekkingsgraad), which compares the assets from a pension fund against its liabilities. Should the index (which is based on the last 12 months) reach 100 percent, the fund is able to pay all the pensions. Should the ratio become too low, however, funds are forced to cut in their pay-outs. From 2020, the ratio all pension funds have to reach is set at 104 percent. Pension funds rank among the highest investors As all employees participate, Dutch pension funds have a lot of money to invest with. In 2020, total investments amounted to approximately 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars. The funds are free to choose what projects to invest in: this can range from mortgages to infrastructure projects to economic projects within the Netherlands or prospects in other countries. For example, the investments from Dutch pension funds in hedge funds reached a value of 25.1 billion euros in the third quarter of 2021.

Russia National Wealth Fund: RUB Expenditure: Pension Fund Deficit Financing data was reported at 0.000 RUB mn in Dec 2019. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 RUB mn for Nov 2019. Russia National Wealth Fund: RUB Expenditure: Pension Fund Deficit Financing data is updated monthly, averaging 0.000 RUB mn from Jan 2008 (Median) to Dec 2019, with 144 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 648,201.553 RUB mn in Dec 2018 and a record low of 0.000 RUB mn in Dec 2019. Russia National Wealth Fund: RUB Expenditure: Pension Fund Deficit Financing data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Treasury. The data is categorized under Russia Premium Database’s Government and Public Finance – Table RU.FE002: National Wealth Fund: Cash Flow.

United States - Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Effect of participation in defined contribution plans on personal income, saving, and wealth: Change in personal wealth was 1875.75200 Bil. of $ in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Effect of participation in defined contribution plans on personal income, saving, and wealth: Change in personal wealth reached a record high of 1875.75200 in January of 2023 and a record low of -1336.79500 in January of 2022. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Effect of participation in defined contribution plans on personal income, saving, and wealth: Change in personal wealth - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

The Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) is a longitudinal survey, which aims to address gaps identified in data about the economic well-being of households by gathering information on level of assets, savings and debt; saving for retirement; how wealth is distributed among households or individuals; and factors that affect financial planning. Private households in Great Britain were sampled for the survey (meaning that people in residential institutions, such as retirement homes, nursing homes, prisons, barracks or university halls of residence, and also homeless people were not included).

The WAS commenced in July 2006, with a first wave of interviews carried out over two years, to June 2008. Interviews were achieved with 30,595 households at Wave 1. Those households were approached again for a Wave 2 interview between July 2008 and June 2010, and 20,170 households took part. Wave 3 covered July 2010 - June 2012, Wave 4 covered July 2012 - June 2014 and Wave 5 covered July 2014 - June 2016. Revisions to previous waves' data mean that small differences may occur between originally published estimates and estimates from the datasets held by the UK Data Service. These revisions are due to improvements in the imputation methodology.

Note from the WAS team - November 2023:
"The Office for National Statistics has identified a very small number of outlier cases present in the seventh round of the Wealth and Assets Survey covering the period April 2018 to March 2020. Our current approach is to treat cases where we have reasonable evidence to suggest the values provided for specific variables are outliers. This approach did not occur for two individuals for several variables involved in the estimation of their pension wealth. While we estimate any impacts are very small overall and median pension wealth and median total wealth estimates are unaffected, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of the pension wealth within the wealthiest decile, and data derived from them. We are urging caution in the interpretation of more detailed estimates."

Survey Periodicity - "Waves" to "Rounds"
Due to the survey periodicity moving from "Waves" (July, ending in June two years later) to “Rounds” (April, ending in March two years later), interviews using the ‘Wave 6’ questionnaire started in July 2016 and were conducted for 21 months, finishing in March 2018. Data for round 6 covers the period April 2016 to March 2018. This comprises of the last three months of Wave 5 (April to June 2016) and 21 months of Wave 6 (July 2016 to March 2018). Round 5 and Round 6 datasets are based on a mixture of original wave-based datasets. Each wave of the survey has a unique questionnaire and therefore each of these round-based datasets are based on two questionnaires. While there may be some changes in the questionnaires, the derived variables for the key wealth estimates have not changed over this period. The aim is to collect the same data, though in some cases the exact questions asked may differ slightly. Detailed information on Moving the Wealth and Assets Survey onto a financial years’ basis was published on the ONS website in July 2019.

Further information and documentation may be found on the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey webpage. Users are advised to the check the page for updates before commencing analysis.

Users should note that issues with linking have been reported and the WAS team are currently investigating.

Secure Access WAS data
The Secure Access version of the WAS includes additional, detailed geographical variables not included in the End User Licence (EUL) version (SN 7215). These include:

• Wards
• Parliamentary Constituency Areas for Wave 1 only
• Census Output Areas
• Lower Layer Super Output Areas
• Local Authorities
  
• Local Education Authorities

Prospective users of the Secure Access version of the WAS will need to fulfil additional requirements, including completion of face-to-face training, and agreement to the Secure Access User Agreement and Licence Compliance Policy, in order to obtain permission to use that version (see 'Access' section below). Users are therefore strongly encouraged to download the EUL version (SN 7215) to see if it contains sufficient detail for their needs, before considering making an application for the Secure Access version.

Latest Edition Information
For the ninth edition (October 2022), the Round 7 person and household data have been updated. The Round 7 Wave 1 Variable Catalogue Excel file has also been updated.