Spending on benefits and pensions for foreign nationals totalled about £23bn in 2025, according to a leading think tank, amid calls for a rethink on the impcat of immigration and the welfare system.
The Centre for Social Justice estimated that the UK government spent about £23bn on benefits, pensions and child-related support for non-British nationals last year.
Research found that approximately £14.3bn of spending was for working-age benefits. The total bill could rise to almost £27bn by 2030, according to estimates.
The Westminster think tank’s new report challenges assumptions on the effects of immigration for the UK economy and impacts of welfare spending.
Researchers crunched data provided by the Department for Work and Pensions, HMRC and the Home Office and suggested that about 1.85m non-British nationals received at least one form of welfare support last year. Government officials said they did not recognise the CSJ’s estimates due to its use of samples.
An estimated 400,000 foreign nationals also received the state pension, which is also projected to rise over the next few years.
The CSJ said the rise in benefits claims had “accompanied the unprecedented rise in immigration seen in recent years”. UK net migration peaked at around 944,000 in the year to March 2023, making migration a key national issue.
While most people on visas do not have recourse to public funds, access to the welfare system can be granted after migrants secure settled status, otherwise known as indefinite leave to remain.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood had planned to double the time after which most foreign nationals can apply for settled status from five to 10 years would apply retrospectively to people who arrived in the UK in 2021. Her stricter rules have led to backlash within Labour ranks, although both Tory and Reform leaders have pledged to go further in denying some foreign nationals from claiming benefits.
Benefits system must ‘restore contribution’
Sir Ian Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader who founded the CSJ, called on the government to join up welfare policies with its approach on immigration.
“At a time when families and businesses are being clobbered with yet more taxes, many will be deeply concerned at the extent to which governments have let unconstrained immigration drive up the welfare bill,” Duncan Smith said.
“We must urgently now restore contribution and reciprocity to the welfare system while helping the millions of Brits on out-of-work benefits back towards a better future for themselves and their families.”
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Andy Burnham said he would “get the welfare bill down” although reforms may only come after the Budget.
A government spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these figures, which appear to be based on small-sample survey data, which is not robust enough to produce reliable estimates.
“Under this government, net migration is down by 82 per cent from its 2023 peak, and only people with eligible immigration status can claim taxpayer-funded benefits, of which around half of those claiming Universal Credit are in work.
“We have also set out proposals which will double the standard qualifying period to 10 years for most migrants, with shorter routes for those who contribute most to the UK.”