Annuity sales soared to their highest level in a decade in 2024, as high rates and economic uncertainty drove people towards the products and their guaranteed income streams.
Insurers sold £7bn in annuities last year, according to the Association of British Insurers, up?34 per cent from 2023 and?the highest figure since George Osborne’s “pensions freedoms” Budget in 2014. The number of contracts sold rose by 24 per cent last year to 89,600, a 10-year high — but still only a quarter of the 2013 figure.
“With ongoing global turmoil and economic uncertainty, there’s an increasing desire for people looking for stability in retirement,” said Lorna Shah, managing director of retail retirement at insurer Legal & General.