In 2020/21 61.3% of pension pots over £50,000 cashed in were withdrawn without financial advice, a rise from the 58.9% seen the previous year.

The number of people using flexible pension withdrawals rose by 6% in the first quarter of 2021 to 383,000, according to the latest HMRC data. 

HMRC has reported that  £2.3 billion was withdrawn from pensions flexibly in Q2 - a 17% fall year-on-year from the £2.8 billion seen in Q2 2019.

Savers withdrew £2.75bn flexibly using the pension freedoms in Q2 2019, up 21% compared to a year earlier, new figures have revealed.