The average cost of living for a pensioner is £11,200 per year, research shows.
Research by Key Retirement, based on 2014 Family Spending data from the Office for National Statistics, said the average pensioner would need £215 per week to cover basic costs such as food, clothes, travel and heating.
Financial provider Key Retirement said the average retired household spent 15% of their budget on fuel and housing, which was equivalent to around £1,680 a year. Another 14% of the budget was spent on food and non-alcoholic drinks, which equated to around £1,568, while transport took "an 11% bite out of budgets".
Expenditure breakdown:
- Food and non-alcoholic drink - £1,568
- Housing, fuel and power (includes rent and maintenance but not mortgages) - £1,680
- Clothing and footwear - £390
- Alcohol and tobacco - £291
- Household goods and services (includes furniture, appliances etc) - £862
- Health - £212
- Transport (includes rail fares, own cars) - £1,240
- Communication (phones, stamps, broadband etc) - £352
- Recreation and culture (includes TV subscriptions and equipment, hobbies) - £1,595
- Restaurants and hotels - £810
- Miscellaneous goods and services (includes personal care, insurance, bank charges) - £897
- Other expenditure items - (includes mortgages, council tax, interest on credit cards, payments to children) - £1,303
- Total - £11,200
The average cost of living for a pensioner in 2013 was £10,387.
The research revealed "huge regional variations", with retired people in the South East needing £13,216 a year, 37% higher then those living in the North East (£9,630).
Dean Mirfin, group director at Key Retirement, said: "The basic cost of being a pensioner at around £11,200 a year highlights the importance of planning carefully for retirement and getting the best possible advice to ensure a comfortable lifestyle."
Mirfin said although a recent fall in inflation meant a drop in the cost of being a pensioner, the basic state pension (currently £113.10 a week and £148.40 a week next year), would not be enough to cover basic costs in any region.
He said: "The recent good news on price rises slowing down as inflation falls, as well as cuts to major expenses such as gas and electricity bills and the fall in petrol and diesel costs, should mean a drop in the cost of being a pensioner this year.
"But it is crucial that pensioners and those in the run-up to retirement focus on their retirement income as the current basic state pension, and even the new state pension planned for next year, will not cover the basic costs of being retired in any region of the UK."
