20 highest-yielding FTSE 100 shares in 2025

Dividend yields of around 8% at Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN) and Phoenix Group Holdings (LSE:PHNX) continue to highlight the income appeal of the FTSE 100 index at the end of a year when overall payouts have fallen.

Other stalwarts including BP (LSE:BP.), British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS), NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) and Aviva (LSE:AV.) are trading with forward yields of 5% or more, leaving the average for the FTSE 100 at just below 3.5%.

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That’s lower than this time last year after yields were compressed by a series of record share prices during a bumper year of headline growth in the FTSE 100 index. 

The blue-chip benchmark’s dividend yield stands broadly in line with the Moneyfacts average savings rate, while it also compares favourably with the 1% of the S&P 500 index.

Outside the FTSE 100, yields are even chunkier as double-digit percentages at stocks including Ithaca Energy Ordinary Share (LSE:ITH), Ashmore Group (LSE:ASHM) and Harbour Energy (LSE:HBR) contribute to a FTSE 250 average near 4.3%.

Across the UK market, Computershare expects dividend payments of £87.2 billion in 2025. That’s down 2.3% on a headline basis, although the figure improves to show a rise of 2.5% when measured on a constant currency basis.

Large cuts by miners Rio Tinto Ordinary Shares (LSE:RIO), Glencore (LSE:GLEN) and Anglo American (LSE:AAL) in line with the commodity cycle and the halving of the Vodafone Group (LSE:VOD) dividend have been factors in the decline. Excess cash has also been put towards buying back shares rather than deployed through special dividends.

The return of cash via share buybacks can still be a positive move for investors should the impact on earnings per share translate into higher future dividends.

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The UK’s top two dividend payers of Shell (LSE:SHEL) and HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA) have each repurchased around 6% of their shares over the last year.

Computershare points out that Shell has spent around twice as much on buybacks than it has on dividends, whereas before the pandemic dividends were larger than buybacks by a wide margin.

Among the reasons for income cheer in 2025 included the first Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.) dividend payments in five years, while NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) lifted its half-year award by 58% on the back of strong earnings and Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) also announced a large increase.

According to Computershare, the five biggest dividend payers in the FTSE 100 accounted for 28.7% of payments in the third quarter with the next 10 making up 30.1%.

With popular income stock Taylor Wimpey (LSE:TW.) no longer a blue-chip company, the highest forward dividend yield in the FTSE 100 is the 8.5% on offer from Legal & General.

The insurer recently shifted to a new distribution policy involving £200 million a year of share buybacks and 2% dividend growth.

Chief executive Antonio Simoes said this represented an increase on the previous policy of 5% growth under predecessor Nigel Wilson, who spurned buybacks in favour of investment.

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Bank of America recently described L&G as the “greatest capital return story in European insurance”, believing that the company has the potential to return 17.5% of its market capitalisation to shareholders during the 2026 financial year.

Retirement and savings business Phoenix yields dividend income of 7.6%, having increased its half-year payment in October by 2.6% to 27.35p a share.

The Standard Life brand owner’s strong level of cash generation means the dividend is well covered, with £300 million a year of excess capital a source of financial flexibility.

Fellow savings and investment business M&G Ordinary Shares (LSE:MNG) completes the sector’s domination of the FTSE 100 income stocks, boasting a forward yield of 7.3%.

All three companies are growing dividends per share by 2-3% per annum but City firm Berenberg recently forecast a rise in the 2025-27 growth rate to 5% at Phoenix, 4% at M&G and 3% at Legal & General.

It said: “For now, the UK life insurers’ operating cash generation is being used to fund deleveraging and new business growth, but going forward we believe that it will be used to increase dividend growth.”

20 highest-yielding FTSE 100 shares in 2025

Source: ShareScope at 19 December 2025. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Property stocks continue to trade with lofty yields as investors are paid to wait for the anticipated improvement in conditions, leaving Land Securities Group (LSE:LAND) shares at 6.8%.

Urban logistics-focused LondonMetric Property (LSE:LMP) is not far behind at 6.7%, having joined the FTSE 100 last year with a pledge to move from “dividend achiever” to “dividend aristocracy”.

The housebuilding, oil and tobacco sectors, which have been traditional hunting grounds for investors seeking income, feature lower down this year’s yield rankings.

Persimmon (LSE:PSN) stands at 4.6% after recently leaving its half-year dividend unchanged, while Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (LSE:BKG) is at 3.5% after it focused its distributions on share buybacks.

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The cheapest Brent crude price in five years at less than $60 a barrel has heightened scrutiny on the outlook for shareholder returns in the Big Oil sector, where BP trades with a dividend yield of 5.8% versus Shell on 4%.  

Shell, which is buying back shares at a much larger rate of $3.5 billion (£2.6 billion) a quarter, has the European oil industry’s lowest dividend breakeven point at $43 a barrel.

British American Tobacco yielded 8.1% at the end of 2024 but this is now 5.8% after shares rallied by about 50% in 2025. Its policy is built on distributing 65% of long-term sustainable earnings.

Imperial Brands (LSE:IMB) is at 5.3%, reflecting a recent 4.5% dividend increase as part of £2.8 billion of shareholder returns planned in the 2026 financial year.

Aviva, which is growing the cash cost of its dividend by a mid-single digit percentage, has seen its yield drop from 7.7% to 5.7% after a year when shares rose 43%.

Rio Tinto is the pick of the mining sector at 4.8%, which compares with 2.1% at Glencore after it switched its focus to debt reduction following a major acquisition.