UK employers paid £12.2bn (€17.6bn) into pension schemes in the first quarter, up 58% on the same period last year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

Most of the increase is down to employers making special cash injections to cover pension fund deficits, said analysis by Watson Wyatt. Special contributions have more than doubled from £2.5bn to £5.9bn in the first three months of 2005.