Pension freedoms result in 158,000 people having access to £1.54bn flexibility from their pension pots in last quarter according to HMRC figures released today.
In the previous quarter £1.77 was withdrawn from 159,000 people, bringing the total accessed to £7.65bn since the pension flexibility rules took effect from 6 April 2015.
There have been 1.1 million payments made since then, with research from the Association of British Investors showing that people are making sustainable long-term retirement decisions.
The Economic Secretary to the Teasury, Simon Kirby, said: "Today's figures prove that allowing people to do what they wish with their hard-earned savings, whether it's buying an annuity or taking a cash lump sum, is the right thing to do.
"The freedoms remain a popular choice as people consider the different ways to fund their retirement."
Individuals are also benefiting from the government's free impartial pension's guidance service, Pension wise, which has had nearly 90,000 appointments to date.
In addition it was announced earlier this year that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) would have the power and duty to cap early exit fees, allowing earlier access to Pension Wise, and the building of a Pensions Dashboard prototype by April 2017.
The FCA's consultation paper looked at the impact on firms, estimating the loss of revenue as a result of the implementation of cap over a four-year period.
It stated: "We recognise that costs could continue beyond this period for some firms.
"Where this is the case, firms may need to take this into account in their business planning."
"While we recognise that firms may also experience revenue losses in respect of other charges attached to these policies, we consider these to be of only minimal significance."
HMRC statistics cover partial or full withdrawal of the pension pot, taking money from a flexible drawdown account or buying flexible annuity.
Figures for the current quarter (October - December 2016) will be published in January 2017.
