The government will continue to uprate the state pension in five countries in Europe beyond 2023 if there is a no-deal Brexit.

Publishing an update on benefits and pensions for UK nationals in the European Union, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland after Brexit the government said that British citizens will continue to get their state pension uprated in April 2023 and afterwards if they live in Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Previously, the government had said that citizens living in an EEA state or Switzerland will get their state pension uprated in April 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The new state pension will rise to £175.35 a week from April 2020, after it was confirmed that CPI inflation grew by 1.7 per cent in September 2019.

The basic state pension for those who reached pension age before April 2016 will also increase from £129.20 to £134.37 as well, as reported average earnings for the three months to July 2019 increased by four per cent — well above the triple lock’s other (2.5 per cent) state pension increase benchmark.

Last month, the government issued letters to more than 363,000 UK pensioners living in the EU “reassuring” them that their state pension will continue to be uprated for three years in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

State pension payments will continue to be uprated by at least 2.5 per cent per year “for the duration of this parliament”, which is worth around £200 per person annually.

The government also said that that it plans to negotiate a new arrangement with the EU to try and ensure that state pension uprating continues to uprate past the three years.

The letters will inform expats that they do not need to do anything to continue receiving their state pension.

Commenting, Work and Pensions Secretary, Thérèse Coffey, said: “Pensioners in Europe who have paid into the system for years deserve peace of mind over their future finances.

“Not only are we providing much-needed reassurance for hundreds of thousands of retirees, we’re ensuring we are fully prepared for leaving the EU on 31 October.

“No matter the circumstances of Brexit, we’ve made sure that pensioners do not need to take any action to continue receiving their hard-earned state pension.”

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