For the period April 2016 to March 2018, 1,032,000 individuals (2%) in Great Britain were estimated to have private pension wealth worth £1,000,000 or more, as shown in Table 2. The total number of individuals is also shown on this table (49,179,000). Private pension wealth includes active/current pensions, preserved/retained pensions and those pensions that are in payment.

The DWP’s Pensioners’ Incomes Series gives detailed statistics on pensioner incomes but does not directly give a percentage of pensioners who are millionaires. It reports that in 2017/18 "the average (mean) net income for pensioner couples in the top quintile was £988 per week" and that this includes "all sources of income (pensions, investments, earnings and benefit income)." Using this, secondary commentators have inferred that the richest pensioner couples could have wealth near or above £1 million, but the report itself does not provide a share of pensioners with £1m+ total wealth.

Data the ONS collected between 2016 and 2018 shows that one in five households (22%) in Great Britain, where the main householder is over 65, have a household wealth of over a million pounds. The data also shows that one in four people aged over 65 (25%) lived in a household with a total wealth of over a million pounds. This definition of wealth includes property, private pensions, savings and physical wealth, not just money in the bank.

Full Fact examined the claim that "one in five or one quarter of pensioners are millionaires" and concluded: "We can’t find data that shows this." It cites ONS data showing that "27% of over 65s in Great Britain live in a household that has a total wealth of £1 million or more, but that doesn’t mean 27% of individual pensioners are personally worth this amount." The article stresses that the statistic is about *household* total wealth (including property and pensions), not about individual pensioners each having £1 million.

In its bulletin on total wealth, the ONS reports that "Around 1 in 5 households (22%) where the household head was aged 65 years and over had total wealth of £1 million or more" for April 2016 to March 2018. It also states that older households tend to have higher levels of wealth, with much of this held in private pensions and property. These figures relate to the distribution of *household* total wealth by age of household head and do not directly state what proportion of individual pensioners personally own £1 million.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies notes that wealth is highly concentrated among older households: "People in their 60s and 70s now have some of the highest levels of household wealth, reflecting the build-up of housing and private pension assets." While the commentary acknowledges that many pensioner households have become very wealthy, it does not provide or endorse a specific figure that "25% of pensioners are millionaires"; instead, it presents broader distributional statistics across age groups.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, analysing ONS Wealth and Assets Survey data, notes that "Pensioners today have much higher levels of wealth than previous generations" and that "on average, households headed by someone aged 65 and over have more wealth than those headed by someone aged 45–54." However, the article does not state that a quarter of pensioners are millionaires. Instead, it emphasises that wealth is very unequally distributed and that a relatively small share of older households hold very large amounts of wealth.

IFS research using the Wealth and Assets Survey shows that about 10% of UK adults live in households with total wealth above £1 million (including housing and pensions). It also finds that older adults are far more likely than younger adults to be in millionaire households. Nevertheless, the report indicates that even among older age groups, the share in millionaire households is well below 25% of all pensioners; the concentration is in the very top of the wealth distribution.

Citing the Office for National Statistics’ Wealth and Assets Survey, the Financial Times reports that about one in five UK households headed by someone aged 65 or over have total wealth above £1m. The article notes that this includes private pension rights, property, savings and other assets, and that population ageing and asset price growth have increased the share of older households above the £1m mark over the past decade.

Resolution Foundation’s analysis of UK wealth notes that older households hold a large and growing share of total wealth, with pensions now the single largest component. It explains that "pensions are the largest and fastest-growing category of wealth" and that wealth is skewed toward those close to or in retirement. The report discusses the concentration of high wealth among older age groups but does not present a specific claim that exactly 25% of pensioners are millionaires; instead it frames the issue in terms of broader wealth inequality and composition.

This Resolution Foundation report on wealth across generations states that baby boomers hold a disproportionately large share of UK wealth, much of it in housing and private pensions. It highlights that "significant increases have come from house price rises in the 1990s and 2000s, followed by major growth in private pension wealth more recently." While it shows how older cohorts have become significantly wealthier on average, it does not provide a percentage such as "25 per cent of pensioners are millionaires."

The data underpinning the claim that 27 per cent of pensioners are millionaires comes from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Its latest Wealth and Assets Survey for 2018-2020 shows that 27 per cent of people over 65 live in households with total wealth above £1 million. This ONS definition of total wealth includes property, private pensions, savings, investments and physical wealth.

The report states: "3,137,000 people over the age of 65 live in millionaire households – where the household wealth is over £1,000,000." It continues: "In 2018–2020 there were approximately 11,619,000 individuals in the 65+ age cohort, of which 27% lived in a household with a total wealth above £1,000,000." These figures are based on the Government’s Wealth and Assets Survey 2018–2020.

The Telegraph reports: "One in four pensioners in Britain is now a millionaire as retirement wealth has ballooned over the last decade, official figures have shown." It notes that "More than three million people over the age of 65 live in households with property and pensions wealth worth more than £1m, analysis of Office for National Statistics data by the Intergenerational Foundation has found." The article describes these as "silver millionaires" but frames the figures in terms of household property and pension wealth, not necessarily each pensioner’s sole personal wealth.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, using ONS Wealth and Assets Survey data, notes that about one in six adults in Great Britain had total household wealth above £1 million in the mid‑2010s, with owner‑occupied housing and private pensions making up most of this wealth. It highlights that many of these millionaires are older: wealth is "heavily concentrated among older people" and a large share of millionaires are in households headed by someone aged 55 or over. The figures are expressed in terms of *household* total wealth, not individual pensioners’ personal wealth.

Discussing wealth among older people, the Centre for Ageing Better notes that while some older households have significant assets, "almost one in five live in poverty." The piece highlights that aggregate figures about pensioner wealth can conceal large inequalities, with a substantial minority of older people having low incomes and limited assets even as others have high wealth. It stresses the importance of not assuming that all baby boomers or pensioners are affluent.

Summarising the Intergenerational Foundation’s findings, the article states: "Some 3.1 million over-65s are now ‘pensioner millionaires’ – making up more than a quarter of all pensioners – because their total household wealth, including property, pensions and other assets, exceeds £1million." It explains that this is based on analysis of the UK Government’s Wealth and Assets Survey data for 2018–20.

According to analysis by Prudential of the latest ONS data for 2010-2012, more than one million pensioner households in the UK now have total wealth of more than £1m. The analysis states that this means more than one in 10 (11%) of over-65 households now have total wealth of more than £1 million, up from 7% in 2006-2008. Prudential’s analysis also notes that 12% of pensioner households are worth less than £40,000.

An ING economic analysis, drawing on ONS data, notes that "roughly one in six households headed by someone aged 65+ are ‘millionaires’ in terms of total wealth, once housing and pensions are included." It stresses that this reflects long house price booms and pension accruals. The article therefore suggests a figure around 15–17% of older households with £1m+ wealth, which is substantially lower than a claim that 25% of pensioners are millionaires.

Analysis of government figures by Aegon has found there are 840,000 retired couples in the UK who have a weekly income which would cost more than £1.15 million if bought as an annuity. The article summarises this as meaning that a fifth of UK retired couples are "pensioner millionaires" on an income basis. The richest 20% of pensioners, equivalent to around 840,000 couples, have an average net income of £988 per week.

This is Money reports on Intergenerational Foundation analysis of ONS data, stating that "The number of ‘silver millionaire’ households has nearly quadrupled in a decade to reach 3.1 million in 2020" and that "More than one in four pensioners now lives in a household with property and pension wealth of more than £1million." The article makes clear that these are "pensioner households" whose *combined* property and pension assets exceed £1 million, not necessarily that each pensioner individually holds £1 million.

This financial advisory article discussing DWP data states that "The richest 20% of pensioners, equivalent to 840,000 couples, now have an average net income of £988 per week" and that this equates to about £51,376 per year. It concludes that "This large proportion of retired couples can legitimately consider themselves ‘pensioner millionaires’." However, this is an interpretation based on income levels, not on measured net wealth figures, and it refers to the top 20% of pensioner couples, not to 25% of all pensioners.

A consumer finance article reports on ONS Wealth and Assets Survey data, stating: "Around one in six retirees are millionaires when you add together their pension pots, property and other assets." It explains that this is based on total wealth over £1m for households where the main earner is retired. The article does not mention any figure as high as 25% of pensioners; instead it repeatedly uses the "one in six" (about 16%) estimate drawn from ONS data.

The UK Office for National Statistics runs the Wealth and Assets Survey in two-year waves and publishes breakdowns of total household wealth by age of household head. Subsequent commentary often phrases findings such as "one in five pensioners are millionaires" or "around a quarter of over-65s live in millionaire households" because 20–27% of over‑65s are found to live in households with total wealth above £1m, depending on the period and exact measure used.