More than 4 million people across England and Wales were entitled to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in the latest figures provided in the source material, highlighting the scale of the disability benefit and the range of health conditions recorded among claimants.
The figures show 4,092,185 people were entitled to PIP as of July 31, 2026, up from 3,830,140 a year earlier. That represents an increase of 262,045 people.
PIP is designed to help people with long-term physical or mental health conditions or disabilities meet some of the additional costs associated with their condition. It is not awarded simply because someone has a particular diagnosis. Instead, eligibility depends on how a person’s condition affects their ability to carry out specified daily living and mobility activities.
The latest data contain 177 condition categories, ranging from chronic pain and arthritis to neurological conditions, mental health disorders, cancer and rare diseases.
Payment
PIP is divided into two separate components: daily living and mobility.
The daily living component is intended to help with additional costs associated with everyday activities. The source material gives the weekly rates as £76.55 for the standard rate and £114.80 for the enhanced rate.
The mobility component is intended to support people who have difficulties with mobility or travelling. Its weekly rates are listed as £30.20 for the standard rate and £80.10 for the enhanced rate.
A claimant receiving the enhanced daily living rate and the enhanced mobility rate would receive £194.90 a week based on those figures. That would be around £844 a month when converted to an average monthly amount.
This is important because the £748 figure in the original headline does not represent a standard monthly PIP payment. PIP is normally paid every four weeks, and the amount depends on which components and rates a claimant qualifies for.
The GOV.UK PIP guidance provides the official information on eligibility, rates and how to make a claim.
Eligibility
Having one of the conditions listed in the DWP statistics does not automatically qualify someone for PIP.
The assessment focuses on how a health condition or disability affects specific activities rather than simply looking at the medical diagnosis.
For example, two people with the same condition could have different PIP outcomes if the condition affects their daily lives in different ways.
The assessment can consider difficulties with activities such as preparing food, eating, washing and bathing, dressing, communicating, managing medication, making budgeting decisions and planning or following journeys.
Mobility difficulties can also be considered separately.
This means the 177 categories in the statistics should be viewed as recorded condition categories among PIP claimants, rather than an official list of conditions that automatically qualify for payment.
Statistics
The largest categories in the supplied July 2026 data include chronic pain syndromes, inflammatory arthritis, learning disability, mood disorders and psychotic disorders.
| Condition | PIP claims |
|---|---|
| Chronic pain syndromes | 200,466 |
| Inflammatory arthritis | 194,309 |
| Learning disability global | 174,205 |
| Mood disorders | 159,316 |
| Psychotic disorders | 133,073 |
| Hyperkinetic disorder | 106,087 |
| COPD | 92,337 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 91,962 |
| Epilepsy | 73,775 |
| Anxiety disorders | 72,195 |
The figures demonstrate the wide range of conditions recorded among PIP claimants. They include physical illnesses, neurological conditions, mental health disorders, sensory impairments, injuries and genetic conditions.
However, the number of claims associated with a condition should not be interpreted as the likelihood that someone with that condition will receive PIP.
Conditions
The full list supplied with the latest figures contains 177 categories.
Some of the larger categories include:
- Chronic pain syndromes – 200,466
- Inflammatory arthritis – 194,309
- Learning disability global – 174,205
- Mood disorders – 159,316
- Psychotic disorders – 133,073
- Hyperkinetic disorder – 106,087
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – 92,337
- Cerebrovascular disease – 91,962
- Epilepsy – 73,775
- Anxiety disorders – 72,195
- Stress reactions – 70,025
- Other neurological disorders – 68,966
- Personality disorder – 58,911
- Multiple sclerosis – 57,941
- Injuries, fracture and dislocation – 55,963
- Non-specific back pain – 53,476
- Pancreatic disease – 45,231
- Cerebral palsy – 41,204
- Specific learning disorder – 38,461
- Neuropathy – 34,508
- Ischaemic heart disease – 31,746
- Breast cancer – 31,738
- Movement disorders – 31,299
- Cognitive disorders – 27,242
- Sensorineural hearing loss – 26,609
- Asthma – 26,581
- Knee disorders – 25,686
- Genetic disorders, dysplasias and malformations – 25,314
- Head injury – 25,230
- Gastrointestinal cancers – 24,303
- Hip disorders – 21,501
- Genitourinary cancers – 20,664
- Wrist and hand disorders – 20,582
- Haematological cancers – 19,828
- Neck disorders – 19,569
- Inflammatory bowel disease – 18,881
- Retinal and optic nerve diseases – 18,850
- Substance use disorders – 18,582
- Amputations – 17,896
- Cardiac failure – 17,173
- Ankle and foot disorders – 16,872
- Generalised musculoskeletal disease – 16,571
- Regional musculoskeletal disease – 16,036
- Visual field defects – 15,469
- Spinal cord compression – 15,024
The remaining categories range from respiratory, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases to rare metabolic disorders, cancers and complications involving different parts of the body.
Assessment
The PIP assessment is based on functional impact.
That means a claimant generally needs to explain what they can and cannot do, how often they experience difficulties and what happens when they attempt an activity.
Evidence can include information from healthcare professionals and other relevant sources, but the assessment is ultimately concerned with how the person’s condition affects the activities covered by the PIP rules.
This is why a diagnosis alone is not a guarantee of payment.
Someone with a relatively common condition may qualify if it causes substantial difficulties with relevant activities, while another person with the same diagnosis may not qualify if their functional limitations are different.
The DWP’s official PIP assessment guidance provides more detail about how assessments are carried out.
Payments
PIP is not based on National Insurance contributions in the same way as contributory benefits, and it is generally not means-tested.
As a result, having savings or being in employment does not automatically prevent someone from claiming.
However, the claimant still has to meet the relevant eligibility conditions and demonstrate the required level of difficulty with qualifying activities.
The amount paid depends on the component or components awarded and whether the standard or enhanced rate applies.
PIP can therefore provide different amounts to different claimants. It should not be described as a single £748 monthly payment available to everyone with a qualifying condition.
Full List
The supplied data include the following additional categories and recorded claim numbers:
| Condition | Claims |
|---|---|
| Metabolic and endocrine disorders | 13,304 |
| Viral diseases | 12,895 |
| Kidney disease | 12,856 |
| Obsessive compulsive disorder | 12,743 |
| Cardiac arrhythmias | 12,256 |
| Shoulder disorders | 11,739 |
| Other cardiovascular disease | 10,761 |
| Headache | 10,534 |
| Diseases of ovary, uterus, cervix, vagina and vulva | 10,134 |
| Blood vessel and lymphatic diseases | 9,755 |
| Unknown primary | 9,657 |
| Renal failure | 8,987 |
| Benign tumours | 8,944 |
| Non-epileptic disturbance of consciousness | 8,652 |
| Eating disorders | 8,595 |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 8,486 |
| Spina bifida | 8,130 |
| Collagen and elastic tissue diseases | 7,787 |
| Brain and spinal cord cancer | 7,136 |
| Mixed hearing loss | 7,066 |
| Peripheral arterial disease | 6,884 |
| Muscle disease | 6,856 |
| Hearing and balance diseases | 6,674 |
| Hypertension | 6,534 |
| Peripheral nerve injury | 6,246 |
| Muscular dystrophy | 6,137 |
| Cirrhosis | 6,082 |
| Upper respiratory tract diseases | 5,757 |
| Vasculitis | 5,588 |
| Congenital heart disease | 5,568 |
The supplied data then include smaller categories covering infections, skin diseases, thyroid conditions, obesity, ataxia, glaucoma, cystic fibrosis, liver disease, blood disorders, pulmonary conditions, autoimmune disorders and many others.
At the bottom of the supplied list are rare categories such as porphyria, protozoal diseases, factitious disorder, heart and lung transplantation and other highly specific conditions.
The reported total is 4,092,185 PIP claimants as of July 31, 2026.
Meaning
The headline figure of £748 needs some context. PIP does not pay a fixed monthly amount based solely on a diagnosis, and the condition list is not a list of automatic qualifying illnesses.
Instead, the DWP statistics show the conditions recorded among people receiving PIP. The decisive issue for an individual claim is how their physical or mental health condition affects relevant daily living or mobility activities.
For anyone considering a claim, the most useful starting point is therefore to understand the PIP eligibility criteria and describe the practical difficulties caused by their condition. The official DWP guidance remains the appropriate source for current rates and assessment rules.
