Retired public sector workers were handed a record £56bn in gold-plated pension payments in 2025-26, figures show.
Payouts increased by more than £1bn compared with the previous year, and costs have doubled since 2012, according to Treasury data.
The £56bn cost is equivalent to almost £2,000 for each UK household. The bill is expected to rise by another £2.6bn in the current tax year.
More than 70,000 retired public sector workers received pensions of more than £50,000 a year in 2025-26, with almost 4,000 receiving more than £100,000.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe, a former minister, called the payouts “unfunded and unsustainable”, while analysts said taxes would have to rise unless the payouts were reformed.
Public sector pensions were previously based on a worker’s final salary, but are now calculated using their average wage. Payouts are guaranteed for life and rise with inflation every year.
In 2011-12, the Government paid £27.8bn to public sector retirees, most of whom spent their careers working in the NHS, as teachers, civil servants or members of the Armed Forces.
However, the total bill reached £55.6bn in 2025-26, according to Treasury figures published on Thursday – the equivalent of £1,917 for each of Britain’s 29 million households.