The UK State Pension is payable overseas only uprated annually if the individual is resident in an EEA country or one with which the UK has a reciprocal social security agreement requiring this. UK pensioners in other countries – most notably Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa – have their pension frozen i.e. paid at the same rate as it was when they first became entitled, or the date they left the UK if they were already pensioners then.
The policy of not awarding increases in some countries overseas has been followed by successive governments and continued with the introduction of the new State Pension on 6 April 2016. Essentially, the reason is cost and the desire to focus constrained resources on pensioners living in the UK.
Please see full report Frozen Overseas Pensions for more information.
Please also see the following debate in Parliament on 1st March 2021