FOI reference: FOI-2026-3424
You asked
I would like to see the average UK employer's pension contributions across various sectors in the last 4 years.
I want to see what percentage the average employer contributes to their employees pension for Defined Contribution pensions. I know this can vary depending on the employee’s contribution but do you have data for the average minimum for professional professions?
We said
Thank you for your request.
The latest publication of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) pensions data was released on 10 March 2026, and covers the four most recent years of available data (2024 provisional and 2021 to 2023 final data). This comprises of a headline bulletin, alongside associated data tables and a quality and methods guide. Please note that, as standard, ASHE data are published as a provisional dataset initially, and then released as a revised or "final" dataset the following year. This release format allows for the inclusion of late returned cases and minor cleaning adjustments to the data the year after initial release. More information is available in our ASHE quality and methodology information (QMI) report.
In the Main points section of the headline bulletin, we present the median employer contribution rate for the public and private sector, also split by sex, for 2024. Estimates from the 2021 to 2023 final and 2024 provisional data are available in Table 4 of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings: Summary of pension results.
Employer contribution data for defined contribution pensions, covering 2024, are available in tables P9 to P12. These present employer contribution rates as the number of employee jobs in contribution rate bands by various breakdowns including pension type. For sector and profession breakdowns, Tables P10 and P11 (linked in bullet points) are likely to be most relevant for your request, while Table P9 and Table P12 give employer contributions by age and size of business, respectively:
Table P11 Employer contribution bands by occupation and pension type (linked) provides a breakdown by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020, which includes "professional occupations" and "associate professional and technical occupations".
Table P10 Employer contribution bands by industry and pension type (linked) provides a breakdown by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2007 and the public and private sectors.
Please also note that if you wish to find information on the employee contributions for the equivalent breakdown groups, Tables P5 to P8, available for 2024 data, contain data on employee contribution rates for the same breakdowns.
It is important to note that all of the "P Tables" contain two versions of the estimates in the linked download files; one with contribution rates based on qualifying earnings, and one with contribution rates as a percentage of full pay. In previous editions of these tables, contribution rates were calculated as a percentage of pensionable pay. Please note that P Tables for the 2021 to 2023 final, and 2024 provisional results use an updated editing and imputation methodology, which results in a break in the time series for contribution rate estimates, so are not directly comparable to the 2021 provisional and earlier results. Further details are available in our Employee workplace pensions UK quality and methods guide.
With regards to the average contribution rate by profession specifically, we have not previously created this analysis. However we could create this for you via our bespoke services. Such services are subject to legal frameworks, resources and agreement of costs. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact pensionsanalysis@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Please note, there will be a charge for this work which would be subject to our charging policy.
As this information is reasonably accessible through another route, even if only accessible on payment, Section 21(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.
Alternatively, we are in the process of making the ASHE pensions microdata associated with the new release (2024 provisional and 2021 to 2023 final data) available through the ONS Secure Research Service (SRS). When this becomes available you will be able to carry out the analysis for yourself. Please note that because of the sensitive nature of the data, it has controlled access and there is an approval process for this. You may apply directly through the ONS SRS. If you need further support with the process of accessing this data, please contact the SRS team at srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk.
Please do reach out to us directly at pensionsanalysis@ons.gov.uk if you have more questions on these data.