The continuing poor performance of stocks and bonds have hit pension funds hard, the PPF has said.
Workplace pension funds fell into deficit last month, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has revealed.
According to the body, an overall deficit of £24.1 billion was marked for July, down from an £8.3 billion surplus in June. By way of comparison, the surplus stood at £83.3 billion in July 2007, just at the onset of the credit crunch.
Since then, global stock exchanges - in which pension funds invest heavily - have experienced severe volatility and losses of value. In particular the collapse of shares in banks over recent months has contributed to this decline.
Moreover, the value of other assets held by pension funds, such as bonds, has also been hit by the credit crisis. In tandem with this has been increasing longevity rates marked in the UK, which weakens the funds' positions still further.
"Over the past year, the negative impact of equities on scheme assets, combined with falling bond yields, have led to an overall worsening of the funding position," the PPF said. "With lower bond yields resulting in a 8.6 percent increase in aggregate liabilities, while weaker equities [shares] have reduced assets by 7.4 percent," it added.
The PPF analysed 7,800 UK schemes over the course of its research.
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