Flexible pension withdrawals rose 15% in 2022-23 to £12.9bn, up from £11.2bn the previous year and £9.3bn the year before. Since 2015, the total value of taxable payments has surpassed £72.2bn. From April to June 2023, £4bn was withdrawn by 567,000 individuals in 1.3 million payments, with an average withdrawal of £7,143 per person. Sarah Coles of Hargreaves Lansdown attributes the increase to the cost-of-living crisis.