A £15.1 billion deficit has been revealed in the UK’s defined benefit pension schemes.
The figures, which were published by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), come despite a monthly improvement.
PPF calculated the deficit by taking total liabilities from the total assets of 7,400 defined benefit pension schemes in the UK.
Concerns about the deficit could lead a number of people to explore additional options when it comes to retirement funding.
Schemes such as equity release can provide homeowners with a welcome cash injection with money taken from the value of their property assets.
The PPF report also revealed that the total UK deficit of all pension schemes now stands at £218 billion.
By way of comparison, the total surplus amount of schemes with more assets than liabilities for February 2010 stood at only £64.4 billion.
The report explained: "Over the past year, rising equity markets have led to an increase in scheme assets of 20.4 per cent. Over the same period, changes in bond yields would have resulted in a 2.2 per cent rise in liabilities.
"However, the change in actuarial assumptions in October reduced estimated liabilities by approximately eight per cent or £70 billion."
