Benefit expenditure on working-age people: record highs and lows
The extremes of benefit expenditure on working-age people as published by DWP, across the 47 periods held here (Year ending March 1979 to Year ending March 2025). Each record is a published figure, not a computed one, and the scope is this series — not “ever”.
The latest figure, £119.8bn in Year ending March 2025, is the highest in the whole published series of 47 periods. The rule: a period counts as beaten only when its figure is strictly below the latest, and the claim is only made when it reaches back at least five years.
Highest published
£119.8bnYear ending March 2025
Lowest published
£4.4bnYear ending March 1979
The full series
The chart as a table
| Period | Benefit expenditure on working-age people |
|---|---|
| Year ending March 1979 | £4.4bn |
| Year ending March 1980 | £4.8bn |
| Year ending March 1981 | £6.3bn |
| Year ending March 1982 | £8.3bn |
| Year ending March 1983 | £9.8bn |
| Year ending March 1984 | £11.6bn |
| Year ending March 1985 | £12.8bn |
| Year ending March 1986 | £14bn |
| Year ending March 1987 | £15.3bn |
| Year ending March 1988 | £15.6bn |
| Year ending March 1989 | £14.9bn |
| Year ending March 1990 | £15.3bn |
| Year ending March 1991 | £17.9bn |
| Year ending March 1992 | £22.7bn |
| Year ending March 1993 | £27.2bn |
| Year ending March 1994 | £30.6bn |
| Year ending March 1995 | £31.8bn |
| Year ending March 1996 | £33.5bn |
| Year ending March 1997 | £34.2bn |
| Year ending March 1998 | £33.4bn |
| Year ending March 1999 | £33.3bn |
| Year ending March 2000 | £32.7bn |
| Year ending March 2001 | £31.7bn |
| Year ending March 2002 | £32.4bn |
| Year ending March 2003 | £33.3bn |
| Year ending March 2004 | £34.6bn |
| Year ending March 2005 | £35.7bn |
| Year ending March 2006 | £36.9bn |
| Year ending March 2007 | £38.2bn |
| Year ending March 2008 | £40.2bn |
| Year ending March 2009 | £42.8bn |
| Year ending March 2010 | £49.4bn |
| Year ending March 2011 | £51.3bn |
| Year ending March 2012 | £53.1bn |
| Year ending March 2013 | £55.1bn |
| Year ending March 2014 | £51.9bn |
| Year ending March 2015 | £52.4bn |
| Year ending March 2016 | £53.8bn |
| Year ending March 2017 | £54.2bn |
| Year ending March 2018 | £56.8bn |
| Year ending March 2019 | £60.1bn |
| Year ending March 2020 | £66.4bn |
| Year ending March 2021 | £85.2bn |
| Year ending March 2022 | £86.2bn |
| Year ending March 2023 | £93.1bn |
| Year ending March 2024 | £108.9bn |
| Year ending March 2025 | £119.8bn |
What a record here is, and is not
A record is the extreme of the periods this site holds for the current series, at each period’s newest published release. Earlier series measured under different methods are not compared against it. Money is in cash terms: a record set years ago stands against the money of its own year.