state pension The UK State Pension is paid anywhere in the world. The annual increase is not. Whether April's uprating reaches a pensioner living overseas depends entirely on which country they moved to — and for a few hundred thousand British pensioners, the answer has been no for years.
This is one of the few parts of the State Pension system that surprises people after they have already acted on the wrong assumption. The entitlement itself travels: having built a National Insurance record, you keep it, and the pension can be paid into a UK account or an overseas one.
The uprating — the annual increase, 4.8% for 2026/27 — is treated separately, and it is not paid everywhere.
Where the increase is paid
Annual increases continue to be paid to pensioners living in:
- The European Economic Area, plus Switzerland and Gibraltar.
- Countries with a reciprocal social security agreement that specifically covers uprating. These include the United States, the Philippines, Turkey, Israel, Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda and Mauritius, among others.
Following EU exit, uprating in the EEA was protected by the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Pensioners in those countries continue to receive the annual increase.
Where it is not
In every other country the pension is frozen at the rate in payment when the person moved abroad, or when they first claimed from abroad. It stays at that figure, year after year, regardless of what happens to UK rates or UK inflation.
The frozen list includes some of the most common destinations for British retirees:
- Australia
- Canada
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- India and Pakistan
- Most of the Commonwealth Caribbean other than the countries named above
The apparent inconsistency — the United States upratead, Canada not; Barbados uprated, Australia not — is a consequence of which bilateral agreements happen to exist and what each one says. There is no underlying principle that explains the pattern, and successive governments have declined to extend uprating on cost grounds.
check before you move, not afterThe freeze applies from the point of departure. Someone considering a move should check their destination against the official list first, because the decision cannot be unwound later except by returning to live in the UK.
What a freeze looks like over time
The effect compounds quietly. Consider someone who reached State Pension age in 2016/17 on the full new State Pension and emigrated at the same time.
| Uprating country | Frozen country | |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly rate in 2016/17 | £155.65 | £155.65 |
| Weekly rate in 2026/27 | £241.30 | £155.65 |
| Difference per week | — | about £85.65 |
| Difference over 52 weeks | — | about £4,450 |
Ten years of frozen payments leaves this pensioner on roughly 65% of the current full rate. A pensioner who moved abroad twenty or thirty years ago may be receiving a fraction of it. The gap does not close on its own.
How many people this affects
Around 450,000 UK State Pension recipients live in countries where their pension is frozen, according to figures discussed in House of Commons Library research. The great majority are in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Campaign groups have pressed for change for decades, the issue is raised regularly in Parliament, and the position has not altered: uprating overseas is paid only where an agreement provides for it.
Returning to the UK
The freeze is not permanent in the sense of being irreversible. A pensioner who returns to live in the UK has their State Pension restored to the current rate — the full amount they would have had if they had never left. The arrears are not paid, but the ongoing rate catches up in full.
Returning temporarily does not have that effect. The restoration applies to the period of residence in the UK, and the pension reverts on departure. Anyone in this position should tell the International Pension Centre both times.
Practical points for pensioners abroad
- Tell the International Pension Centre about a move, a change of address or a change of bank account. It handles all overseas State Pension cases.
- Payment can go to a UK or an overseas account. Overseas payments are converted at the exchange rate on the day, so the local-currency amount varies even when the sterling figure does not.
- Payment frequency differs. Pensions paid abroad are often paid every four or thirteen weeks.
- Expect a life certificate. The Department for Work and Pensions periodically sends one to confirm the recipient is still living. Not returning it suspends payment.
- Tax is a separate question. The UK State Pension remains UK-taxable income, and the country of residence may tax it too. A double taxation agreement usually determines which country has the right to tax it.
Before a move
Three checks are worth doing while the decision is still open: confirm the destination's status on the GOV.UK list; get a State Pension forecast so the starting figure is known; and look at whether the destination has a double taxation agreement with the UK. Our piece on what a pension forecast can and cannot tell you covers what the forecast does and does not include.
The point worth taking away
The pension follows you abroad; the increase does not necessarily. In an uprating country the April rise arrives as normal. In a frozen country the rate is fixed from the day of departure and stays there. The destination decides it, the rule is published, and it is far easier to check beforehand than to live with afterwards.
sources
General information. This article is sponsored content published by Riescola Pres, a service of Exigon Consulting OÜ. It explains published public rules and figures and is not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Riescola Pres is independent of, and not endorsed by, GOV.UK, the Department for Work and Pensions or HM Revenue & Customs, and no application can be made through this website. Any amounts shown are the official published rates for the stated period or clearly labelled worked examples; what an individual receives depends on their own record and circumstances. Figures correct as at 15 October 2026.
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