How many people are in poverty in the UK?

The official count comes from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics, the UK's main source of poverty estimates. In the financial year ending 2025 (April 2024 to March 2025), 16% of people were in relative low income before housing costs and 20% after housing costs, according to the release published on 26 March 2026.

HBAI gives each rate for children, working-age adults and pensioners, and the data tables convert percentages into numbers of people. It is based on the Family Resources Survey, a sample of around 16,000 households, so small year-to-year changes are often within the margin of error.

When checking a claim, look for which measure is used: relative or absolute, and before or after housing costs. The after housing costs figure is usually higher. See how the poverty line is set.

Official sources: DWP Households Below Average Income statistics · HBAI report, FYE 1995 to FYE 2025

The latest figure

The newest value is at Office for National Statistics (ONS). More on it: UK real household disposable income per head.

When is the next figure out?

Quarterly, with the quarterly national accounts about three months after the quarter ends, 7am; next release 22 December 2026

Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.

Terms used in this answer

• Relative and absolute poverty
  Relative poverty means household income below 60% of the median in that year. Absolute poverty uses 60% of a fixed past median, adjusted only for inflation.
• Before and after housing costs (BHC and AHC)
  Two ways of measuring household income: before housing costs (BHC) counts income as received; after housing costs (AHC) deducts rent, mortgage interest and similar costs.
• Households below average income (HBAI)
  The DWP's annual statistics on the distribution of household income in the UK, the main source for official poverty figures.
• Deciles and quintiles
  Ways of dividing a ranked population into equal groups: ten groups (deciles) or five groups (quintiles), often used for income.
• Real terms
  A figure adjusted to remove the effect of inflation, so amounts from different years can be compared by what they would buy rather than their face value.
• Per capita (per head)
  A total divided by the number of people in the population, such as GDP per head or spending per person, to allow fair comparison between places or years.

Where the figures come from

• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics and Stat-Xplore
  Where to find DWP figures on Universal Credit, PIP, State Pension and Pension Credit, how to build a Stat-Xplore table and use the free Open Data API.
• International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and World Bank data
  How to check UK versus other countries claims with IMF, OECD and World Bank data: which database to use, PPP versus exchange rates, and data vintages.
• UK poverty and household income statistics (DWP, ONS, DESNZ, Low Pay Commission and devolved governments)
  Where to find official UK poverty, household income, inequality, minimum wage and fuel poverty figures, and how to check claims about them.

Related questions

• How many children are in poverty in the UK?
• What is the poverty line in the UK?
• How many pensioners live in poverty?

This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about poverty, incomes and cost of living: all Poverty, incomes and cost of living questions.