Attendance Allowance Claimants: The Data

Attendance Allowance was claimed by around 1.9 million people in Great Britain at February 2025 (DWP, August 2025 release, subject to revision), and the number has risen every year for which the Department for Work and Pensions has published recent figures. This page gathers the verified official statistics in one place, with every figure linked to its source.

Attendance Allowance is a non-means-tested benefit for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision because of a physical or mental health condition. It is not affected by income or savings. The figures below are official statistics from the DWP and are current as at the reference periods shown; all are subject to revision.

Key figures at a glance

At the most recent counts, there were around 1.9 million Attendance Allowance claimants in Great Britain (February 2025) and roughly 1.744 million once policy devolved to Scotland is excluded (August 2025). The two current weekly rates are £76.70 (lower) and £114.60 (higher). Each figure is sourced in the table.

Where the DWP publishes rounded headline caseloads (for example "1.9 million"), we quote the rounding used in the release. Britain-wide and excluding-Scotland figures are not directly comparable because responsibility for the benefit in Scotland has been transferring to a devolved payment; see the Scotland note below.

What claimants receive: the weekly rates

Attendance Allowance is paid at one of two flat weekly rates. As at July 2026 the lower rate is £76.70 a week and the higher rate is £114.60 a week (gov.uk/attendance-allowance, subject to change). The lower rate reflects help needed by day or by night; the higher rate reflects help needed both day and night, or a claimant nearing the end of life.

Rates as at July 2026, source gov.uk/attendance-allowance/what-youll-get, subject to change. The benefit is not means-tested, so savings and most income do not affect it.

Entitled versus actually in payment

Not everyone counted as a claimant is receiving money at a given moment. At February 2025, of the 1.9 million Great Britain claimants, about 1.7 million were being paid and roughly 120,000 (around 7%) were entitled but not in payment (DWP benefits statistics, Aug 2025 release, subject to revision). Payments can be suspended temporarily, for example during a hospital stay.

The later, Scotland-excluded figures show a similar pattern: at August 2025 around 1.6 million were in payment and roughly 99,000 (about 6%) were entitled but not being paid (DWP benefit statistics, Feb 2026 release, subject to revision).

What the numbers mean

A rising caseload of this size points to sustained demand from older people who need help with daily living, but the published statistics stop short of explaining why. Read carefully, the data supports a few observations rather than firm conclusions, and none of it is a substitute for advice about an individual claim.

• Steady growth, not a spike. Each release has added roughly 100,000 to 140,000 claimants year on year (DWP, Aug 2025 release), which is consistent with a gradually ageing population rather than a sudden change.
• Take-up may still lag need. Because the benefit is not means-tested, many people who could qualify do not claim. The statistics count claimants, not the wider population who might be eligible, so they can understate potential demand.
• It sits apart from care funding. Attendance Allowance is separate from paying for a care home. It can help with the extra costs of a condition, but it does not, by itself, resolve care-fees planning, which many people choose to discuss with a qualified professional.

On that last point, families sometimes ask whether rearranging savings or property can reduce later care costs. Attendance Allowance is not means-tested, so it is unaffected. Where a local authority does means-test for care, deliberately giving away assets to reduce a care-fees contribution can be treated as deprivation of assets and challenged, so this is an area where taking advice matters. Our guide to Care Home Fees covers the principles, and the wider picture sits within our estate planning guide.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

These figures mainly describe Great Britain, but coverage is changing. In Scotland, Attendance Allowance is being replaced by a devolved payment for people of pension age, which is why the DWP now annotates its releases to show that Attendance Allowance figures exclude Scotland from August 2025 (DWP benefit statistics, Feb 2026 release). Northern Ireland runs its own social security system, so its claimants are counted separately from the Great Britain totals above.

Anyone comparing figures across years should check whether Scotland is included, because the change means recent excluding-Scotland counts sit below the earlier Britain-wide ones even though the underlying trend has been upward.

Sources and methodology

Every figure on this page comes from a named official source and was verified in July 2026. Caseload data are DWP official statistics, drawn from the department's benefit administrative systems and published twice a year, with each release reporting data around six months in arrears. Rates are the current published amounts on gov.uk. All figures are subject to revision or change.

• Attendance Allowance caseload, February 2025 and payment split, Great Britain: DWP benefits statistics, August 2025 release.
• Attendance Allowance caseload, August 2025 (excludes Scotland), year-on-year change and payment split: DWP benefit statistics, February 2026 release.
• Caseload, August 2024, Great Britain: DWP benefits statistics, February 2025 release.
• Caseload, February 2024, Great Britain: DWP benefits statistics, August 2024 release.
• Current weekly rates: gov.uk/attendance-allowance/what-youll-get.
• Average award (secondary, older): OBR, welfare spending: disability benefits, based on the November 2023 forecast.
• Full detailed tables are available via the DWP's Stat-Xplore service, published alongside each release.

Frequently asked questions