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Child and Working Tax Credits Finalised Annual Awards 2023 to 2024 Main Commentary

Published 25 September 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-2005-to-2025/child-and-working-tax-credits-finalised-annual-awards-2023-to-2024-main-commentary--2

1. About this release

These statistics focus on the estimated number of families benefitting from Child Tax Credit (CTC) and/or Working Tax Credit (WTC) in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland during the tax year ending 2024 (6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024).

2. Main headlines

The number of families claiming tax credits has steadily fallen since tax year ending 2011, when changes to the tax credit system were implemented.

In tax year ending 2024, there were an average of:

  • 898,000 families claiming tax credits - this is an estimated fall of 304,000 (25%) compared to the previous year (Figure 1)
  • 1,676,000 children in tax credit claiming families - this is an estimated fall of 587,000 (26%) compared to the previous year

There have also been several policy changes during this period which have impacted these figures. These are:

  • changes to the tax credit system implemented in April 2011
  • start of the Universal Credit (UC) rollout in April 2013
  • the full rollout of the digital UC service across the country in December 2018
  • the closure of new tax credits claims in December 2018
  • the temporary WTC uplift from April 2020 to April 2021

Figure 1: Estimated number of families (millions) receiving tax credits, from tax year ending 2009

3. Time series

In general, there has been a downward trend in the number of recipient families for all categories of benefits since tax year ending 2013.

Between tax year ending 2023 and tax year ending 2024, the average number of recipient families fell from:

  • 467,000 to 343,000 for in-work, WTC and CTC, a decrease of 27%
  • 339,000 to 268,000 for out-of-work, CTC only, a decrease 21%
  • 281,000 to 194,000 for in-work, CTC only, a decrease of 31%
  • 116,000 to 94,000 for in-work, WTC only, a decrease of 19%

The order of size of recipient categories has remained constant with the largest as ‘in-work WTC and CTC’, followed by ‘out-of-work, CTC only’, with ‘in-work, CTC only’ as third, and then finally ‘in-work WTC only’.

Total annual entitlement remained at similar levels between tax year ending 2013 and tax year ending 2016. From tax year ending 2017 there has been a gradual decrease in total annual entitlement to tax credits to £7.4 billion in tax year ending 2024.

Between tax year ending 2023 and tax year ending 2024, the total annual entitlement to tax credits fell from:

  • £4.6 billion to £3.8 billion for in-work, WTC and CTC, a decrease of 18%
  • £2.6 billion to £2.3 billion for out-of-work, CTC only, a decrease 11%
  • £1.2 billion to £1.0 billion for in-work, CTC only, a decrease of 22%
  • £0.4 billion to £0.3 billion for in-work, WTC only, a decrease of 7%

4. A National Statistics publication

National Statistics are accredited official statistics. They are produced to high professional standards as set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has accredited these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Accreditation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

  • meet identified user needs
  • are well explained and readily accessible
  • are produced according to sound methods
  • are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
  • are produced to the highest standard, ensuring that data confidentiality has been maintained

Once statistics have been accredited as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.

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5. Contact details

5.1 Benefits and credits statistics

Media contact: HMRC Press Office

Statistical contact: J Martin

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