Savers have accessed over £7.6 billion from their pension pots since April 2015, according to figures by HMRC.

Since the introduction of pension freedoms, 11.1 million payments have been made.

The figures account for partial or full withdrawal of pension pots, flexible drawdown accounts, and flexible annuities.

Further findings:

• 158,000 individuals have also accessed around £1.5 billion from their pots over Q3, in Q2, 159,000 individuals withdrew £1.77 billion from their pots.

Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, said:

“We are seeing a growing trend of people accessing their pension pots under the pension freedoms with the number of people accessing their money doubling and the value of savings accessed up £370m compared against the same time last year.

“Longer life expectancy and rising inflation pose a real threat to retirement income, and without careful planning, there is a risk those drawing too heavily on their retirement pots could run out of money.”