DWP · Year ending March 2021 to Year ending March 2025 · £ million

Total benefit expenditure, real terms

Total benefit expenditure, real terms: Year ending March 2021 to Year ending March 2025ConservativeConservativeLabourLabour0100k200k300k20212022202320242025Year ending March 2021: £263.9bn £ million · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2022: £268.6bn £ million · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2023: £268.9bn £ million · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2024: £293.5bn £ million · published 26 March 2026Year ending March 2025: £304.7bn £ million · published 26 March 2026

Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

Source: DWP, Benefit expenditure and caseload tables: outturn and forecast (Spring Forecast 2026), Benefit expenditure and caseload tables: Spring Forecast 2026 (published 26 March 2026). Data presentation: Civometry.

Share and download

Embed

Interactive embed with title, period, official source and a link back:

<iframe src="https://civometry.com/embed/benefit-expenditure-total-real?range=5y" width="720" height="400" style="border:0;max-width:100%" title="Total benefit expenditure, real terms | Civometry" loading="lazy"></iframe>

Or a static image; the alt text carries the official source:

<a href="https://civometry.com/charts/benefit-expenditure-total-real"><img src="https://civometry.com/charts/benefit-expenditure-total-real/svg?range=5y" alt="Total benefit expenditure, real terms, Year ending March 2021 to Year ending March 2025. Source: DWP. Data presentation: Civometry." width="720" height="300"></a>