MONMOUTHSHIRE pensioners received about £4.1m in Winter Fuel Payments last winter, with 23,616 people paid, up from 1,885 the winter before.

Pensioners in Wales as a whole were paid about £113m in Winter Fuel Payments last winter, almost six times as much as the winter before, according to new research by web experts at SEO Backlinks, who worked out the total for each of Wales' 22 council areas.

Department for Work and Pensions figures show 644,326 people in Wales got a payment in winter 2025 to 2026, after it was restored to most pensioners.

The winter before, when it went only to pensioners on Pension Credit and certain other means-tested benefits, 82,608 people in Wales got one, worth about £19.7m.

Cardiff had the most, with 52,457 pensioners paid about £9.3m. Swansea was next with 47,364 (about £8.4m), then Rhondda Cynon Taf with 45,266 (about £7.9m) and Carmarthenshire with 44,328 (about £7.7m). Merthyr Tydfil had the fewest, 10,812 pensioners and about £1.9m.

The biggest jumps in proportion were in Monmouthshire, where the number paid rose from 1,885 to 23,616, Powys (3,467 to 35,961) and the Vale of Glamorgan (2,830 to 28,864).

SEO Backlinks worked out each area's total from the DWP's count of how many people were paid £100, £150, £200 or £300. The DWP adjusts its counts slightly to protect privacy, so the totals are approximate, and they show what was paid before HMRC took any back from people with incomes over £35,000.

Daniel Weston, Founder of SEO Backlinks said, “The jump is striking. Monmouthshire went from fewer than 1,900 pensioners getting the payment to more than 23,000 in a single winter. This winter's payments are due in November and December, so if you were born on or before 27 June 1960 and haven't had a letter, it's worth checking whether you need to claim."