More than three-quarters (78.7 per cent) of workplace pension holders in the UK were contributing less than 8 per cent of total earnings in 2021, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The data, which looked at defined contribution (DC) pensions, group personal pensions, group stakeholder pensions and group self-invested personal pensions, showed that 1 per cent of employees were not contributing anything to their pots.

More than a quarter (28.1 per cent) were contributing less than 3 per cent of earnings but more than nothing, while 49.6 per cent were contributing at least 3 per cent but less than 8 per cent.

Three per cent of workplace pension holders were contributing 20 per cent or more of their total earnings, 2.3 per cent were contributing at least 15 per cent but less than 20 per cent, 4.1 per cent were contributing at least 12 per cent but less than 15 per cent, and 5 per cent were putting away at least 10 per cent but less than 12 per cent.

The ONS data also revealed that 6.8 per cent of workplace pension savers were contributing 8 per cent or more of total earnings but less than 10 per cent.

The industry with the most people contributing more than 20 per cent was ‘public administration and defence; compulsory social security’, with 67.4 per cent putting away more than 20 per cent, followed by education, where 30.9 per cent were contributing more than a fifth of their total earnings.

‘Financial and insurance activities’ was the industry most likely to not be contributing to their workplace pension, with 2.9 per cent not doing so, followed by transportation and storage, with 1.8 per cent of people in this industry not contributing.

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