Britain staring into a £309bn pension black hole with eight in ten final salary schemes in in deficit

Shortfall: Figures show 4,804 pension schemes now have a black hole

Eight in ten final salary pension schemes in Britain are in deficit with a total shortfall of more than £300billion.

Figures from the Pension Protection Fund show 4,804 pension schemes now have a black hole – up from 4,679 a year ago and 80.1 per cent of the total.

The report shows these schemes are running a deficit of £309.4billion – up from £273.5billion in the past 12 months. 

The figures underline the crisis facing British pension funds – and those relying on them for retirement income.

The issue has hit the headlines in recent weeks following the collapse of High Street chain BHS, which went into administration with a £571million black hole in its pension fund. 

The retirements of 134,000 steel workers are also at risk after Tata Steel put its UK operations up for sale. 

Although potential buyers are circling some of Tata’s businesses, they are reluctant to take on the burden of the pension scheme which has a £485million black hole.

The PPF report shows that once the 1,141 pension schemes 5945 that are in surplus are included in the calculations, there is an aggregate deficit of £270.2billion, up from £230.8billion a year ago.