One out of seven people planning to retire this year has no personal pension and will be heavily or totally dependent on the state.
That is the conclusion of a study by Prudential which also found women were nearly three times more likely than men to retire with only the state pension.
Researchers said the state pension would account for 35 per cent of average retirement income for those planning to retire in 2014.
Some 20 per cent of women say they have no pension savings compared with seven per cent of men.
Women are more reliant on the state pension than men – on average the state pension makes up 42 per cent of women's expected retirement incomes compared with 28 per cent for men.
Also, women have less company pension scheme income than men – it makes up 27 per cent of women's expected retirement incomes compared with 42 per cent for men.
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Nearly one in five of those planning to retire this year will have an income below the Minimum Income Standard as defined by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
JRF estimates that a single pensioner needs an income of at least £8,600 a year to reach a minimum socially acceptable standard of living; a retired couple needs an annual income of more than £12,500.
Vince Smith-Hughes, retirement income expert at Prudential, said: "The changes to pensions and how people can take their retirement income announced in the Budget last month will provide savers and retirees with more choices.
"However they don't alter the fundamental fact that many people are not saving enough for a comfortable retirement."
Across the country people expecting to retire this year in the North East and South West are the most likely to rely on the State Pension (20 per cent with no other pension).
In contrast, those in the North West will be the least reliant, with just eight per cent entering retirement without any private pension savings.