DWP · Benefit expenditure and caseload tables: outturn and forecast (Spring Forecast 2026)
Total benefit expenditure, real terms
Year ending March 2025 Final
£304.7bnmillion
Total benefit expenditure, real terms was £304.7bn in the year ending March 2025, up 3.8% (£11.2bn) from £293.5bn in the year ending March 2024.
▲ 3.8% · +£11.2bn against Year ending March 2024 (previous period)
DWP count
Year ending March 2025
published 26 March 2026
Benefit expenditure, £ billion, real terms, 2026/27 prices
row “Total”
column “2024/25”
cell value 304.65937984719085
Year ending March 2025 is the highest figure in the published series: £304.7bn. Rule: highest of the 77 periods published here (Year ending March 1949 to Year ending March 2025).
Year ending March 1949 to Year ending March 2025
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value
Total DWP benefit expenditure restated at 2026/27 prices using the GDP deflator, so years can be compared without the effect of inflation.
What this doesn’t measure
Changes in the number of people supported, which is a separate caseload figure.
Important caveat
These are DWP's own expenditure and caseload tables for Great Britain, by financial year. Expenditure is in cash terms unless the metric says real terms, in which case DWP has restated it at 2026/27 prices with the GDP deflator. Caseloads are averages over the year, not the number at any date, and a person can appear in more than one benefit's caseload. Benefits devolved to Scotland leave these tables from the year of transfer, so recent years cover a smaller population than earlier ones for the affected benefits. Forecast years in the same workbook are not shown here.
Revision history
No period of this series has been revised since it was first ingested here. Revisions are recorded automatically when a later release publishes a different figure for the same period.
Change during each government, from the level inherited to the last complete period before it left office. Describes the period; does not attribute cause.