The median annual earnings for full-time employees in the United Kingdom was approximately 37,430 British pounds in 2024, compared with 34,963 pounds in the previous year. At the start of the provided time period, in 1999, the average full-time salary in the UK was 17,803 pounds per year, with median earnings exceeding 20,000 pounds per year in 2002, and 30,000 by 2019. Wages continue to grow faster than inflation in 2025 Between November 2021 and July 2023 inflation was higher than wage growth in the UK, with wages still outpacing inflation as of March 2025. At the peak of the recent wave of high inflation in October 2022, the CPI inflation rate reached a 41-year-high of 11.1 percent, wages were growing much slower at 6.1 percent. Since that peak, inflation remained persistently high for several months, only dropping below double figures in April 2023, when inflation was 8.7 percent, down from 10.1 percent in the previous month. For 2023 as a whole, the average annual rate of inflation was 7.3 percent but fell to 2.5 percent in 2024, but is forecast to increase to 3.2 percent in 2025. Highest and lowest-paid occupations As of 2023, the highest-paid occupation in the UK was that of Chief Executives and Senior Officials, who had an average weekly pay of approximately, 1,576 pounds. By contrast, the lowest-paid occupation that year was that of retail cashiers, and check-out operators, who earned approximately 383 pounds a week. For industry sectors as a whole, people who worked full-time in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector had the highest average earnings, at 955 pounds a week, compared with 505 pounds a week in the accommodation and food services sector, the lowest average earnings in 2023.
These tables only cover individuals with some liability to tax.
These statistics are classified as accredited official statistics.
You can find more information about these statistics and collated tables for the latest and previous tax years on the Statistics about personal incomes page.
Supporting documentation on the methodology used to produce these statistics is available in the release for each tax year.
Note: comparisons over time may be affected by changes in methodology. Notably, there was a revision to the grossing factors in the 2018 to 2019 publication, which is discussed in the commentary and supporting documentation for that tax year. Further details, including a summary of significant methodological changes over time, data suitability and coverage, are included in the Background Quality Report.
This statistical release has been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We advise users to consult our technical report which provides further detail on how the statistics have been impacted and changes made to published material.
This Households Below Average Income (HBAI) report presents information on living standards in the United Kingdom year on year from financial year ending (FYE) 1995 to FYE 2021.
It provides estimates on the number and percentage of people living in low-income households based on disposable income. Figures are also provided for children, pensioners and working-age adults.
Use our infographic to find out how low income is measured in HBAI.
Most of the figures in this report come from the Family Resources Survey, a representative survey of around 10,000 households in the UK.
Summary data tables and publication charts are available on this page.
The directory of tables is a guide to the information in the summary data tables and publication charts file.
UK-level HBAI data is available from FYE 1995 to FYE 2020 on https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml" class="govuk-link">Stat-Xplore online tool. You can use Stat-Xplore to create your own HBAI analysis. Data for FYE 2021 is not available on Stat-Xplore.
HBAI information is available at:
Read the user guide to HBAI data on Stat-Xplore.
We are seeking feedback from users on this development release of HBAI data on Stat-Xplore: email team.hbai@dwp.gov.uk with your comments.
The table only covers individuals who have some liability to Income Tax. The percentile points have been independently calculated on total income before tax and after tax.
These statistics are classified as accredited official statistics.
You can find more information about these statistics and collated tables for the latest and previous tax years on the Statistics about personal incomes page.
Supporting documentation on the methodology used to produce these statistics is available in the release for each tax year.
Note: comparisons over time may be affected by changes in methodology. Notably, there was a revision to the grossing factors in the 2018 to 2019 publication, which is discussed in the commentary and supporting documentation for that tax year. Further details, including a summary of significant methodological changes over time, data suitability and coverage, are included in the Background Quality Report.
In 2023/24 the mean disposable income per household in the United Kingdom was ****** British pounds, while the median disposable income for households was ****** pounds
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License information was derived automatically
Estimates of UK regional gross disposable household income (GDHI) at current prices for ITL1, ITL2 and ITL3 regions.
Add the following citation to any analysis shared or published:
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), released 21 March 2024, GOV.UK website, statistical release, Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023.
This Households Below Average Income (HBAI) report presents information on living standards in the United Kingdom year on year from financial year ending (FYE) 1995 to FYE 2023.
It provides estimates on the number and percentage of people living in low-income households based on their household disposable income. Figures are also provided for children, pensioners, working-age adults and individuals living in a family where someone is disabled.
Use our infographic to find out how low income is measured in HBAI.
The statistics in this report come from the Family Resources Survey, a representative survey of 25 thousand households in the UK in FYE 2023.
In the 2022 to 2023 HBAI release, one element of the low-income benefits and tax credits Cost of Living Payment was not included, which impacted on the Family Resources based publications and therefore HBAI income estimates for this year.
Revised 2022 to 2023 data has been included in the time series and trend tables in the 2023 to 2024 HBAI release. Stat-Xplore and the underlying dataset has also been updated to reflect the revised 2022 to 2023 data. Please use the data tables in the 2023 to 2024 HBAI release to ensure you have the revised data for 2022 to 2023.
Summary data tables are available on this page, with more detailed analysis available to download as a Zip file.
The directory of tables is a guide to the information in the data tables Zip file.
HBAI data is available from FYE 1995 to FYE 2023 on the https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml" class="govuk-link">Stat-Xplore online tool. You can use Stat-Xplore to create your own HBAI analysis. Please note that data for FYE 2021 is not available on Stat-Xplore.
HBAI information is available at an individual level, and uses the net, weekly income of their household. Breakdowns allow analysis of individual, family (benefit unit) and household characteristics of the individual.
Read the user guide to HBAI data on Stat-Xplore.
We are seeking feedback from users on the HBAI data in Stat-Xplore: email team.hbai@dwp.gov.uk with your comments.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
Key information about UK Household Income per Capita
This Households Below Average Income (HBAI) report presents information on living standards in the United Kingdom year on year from 1994/95 to 2017/18.
It provides estimates on the number and percentage of people living in low-income households based on disposable income. Figures are also provided for children, pensioners, working-age adults and individuals living in a family where someone is disabled.
Use our infographic to find out how low income is measured in HBAI.
Most of the figures in this report come from the Family Resources Survey, a representative survey of around 19,000 households in the UK.
Summary data tables are available on this page, with more detailed analysis available to download as a Zip file.
The directory of tables is a guide to the information in the data tables Zip file.
UK-level HBAI data is available from 1994/95 to 2017/18 on the https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml" class="govuk-link">Stat-Xplore online tool. You can use Stat-Xplore to create your own HBAI analysis.
Note that regional and ethnicity analysis are not available on the database because multiple-year averages cannot currently be produced. These are available in the HBAI tables.
HBAI information is available at:
Read the user guide to HBAI data on Stat-Xplore.
We are seeking feedback from users on this development release of HBAI data on Stat-Xplore – email team.hbai@dwp.gov.uk with your comments.
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
License information was derived automatically
Statistics and commentary which give an insight into the standard of living of the household population in Great Britain, focusing on the lower part of income distribution. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai.asp https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/households-below-average-income-hbai--2 Source agency: Work and Pensions Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Households Below Average Income
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
License information was derived automatically
Annual estimates of paid hours worked and earnings for UK employees by sex, and full-time and part-time, by work-based region to local and unitary authority level.
Households in the bottom decile in the United Kingdom earned, on average, ****** British pounds per year in 2023/24, compared with the top decile which earned around ******* pounds per year.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/legal/#copyright-citation-requiredhttps://fred.stlouisfed.org/legal/#copyright-citation-required
Graph and download economic data for Average Weekly Earnings Per Person in the United Kingdom (AWEPPUKQ) from Q1 1919 to Q4 2016 about academic data, United Kingdom, average, earnings, and per capita.
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
License information was derived automatically
Average weekly earnings, UK, monthly.
These tables only cover individuals with some liability to tax.
These statistics are classified as accredited official statistics.
You can find more information about these statistics and collated tables for the latest and previous tax years on the Statistics about personal incomes page.
Supporting documentation on the methodology used to produce these statistics is available in the release for each tax year.
Note: comparisons over time may be affected by changes in methodology. Notably, there was a revision to the grossing factors in the 2018 to 2019 publication, which is discussed in the commentary and supporting documentation for that tax year. Further details, including a summary of significant methodological changes over time, data suitability and coverage, are included in the Background Quality Report.
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
License information was derived automatically
Average annual incomes, taxes and benefits, and household characteristics of retired and non-retired households in the UK. Data for financial years, by quintile and decile groups, country and region and tenure type.
In 2023, full-time workers in their 40s had the highest average annual salary in the United Kingdom, earning on average around 39,491 British pounds a year, compared with 20,437 for people aged between 18 and 21.
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
License information was derived automatically
Estimates of annual household income for the four income types for Middle layer Super Output Areas, or local areas, in England and Wales.
This is the 24th edition of the households below average income (HBAI) series.
Find out how low income is measured.
This section includes an overview of the background, changes over time and shows:
This section includes the glossary and definitions of the terms used in the report, and more detail on HBAI methodology.
Households Below Average Income anonymised UK Data Archive End User Licence. The data is used to produce the latest annual estimates of the percentage of children, working-age adults and pensioners living in relative and absolute low income, together with statistics on children living in combined low income and material deprivation, and pensioners living in material deprivation, in 2011/12. Historic data are available. For general information : https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/series/households-below-average-income-hbai--2
The median annual earnings for full-time employees in the United Kingdom was approximately 37,430 British pounds in 2024, compared with 34,963 pounds in the previous year. At the start of the provided time period, in 1999, the average full-time salary in the UK was 17,803 pounds per year, with median earnings exceeding 20,000 pounds per year in 2002, and 30,000 by 2019. Wages continue to grow faster than inflation in 2025 Between November 2021 and July 2023 inflation was higher than wage growth in the UK, with wages still outpacing inflation as of March 2025. At the peak of the recent wave of high inflation in October 2022, the CPI inflation rate reached a 41-year-high of 11.1 percent, wages were growing much slower at 6.1 percent. Since that peak, inflation remained persistently high for several months, only dropping below double figures in April 2023, when inflation was 8.7 percent, down from 10.1 percent in the previous month. For 2023 as a whole, the average annual rate of inflation was 7.3 percent but fell to 2.5 percent in 2024, but is forecast to increase to 3.2 percent in 2025. Highest and lowest-paid occupations As of 2023, the highest-paid occupation in the UK was that of Chief Executives and Senior Officials, who had an average weekly pay of approximately, 1,576 pounds. By contrast, the lowest-paid occupation that year was that of retail cashiers, and check-out operators, who earned approximately 383 pounds a week. For industry sectors as a whole, people who worked full-time in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector had the highest average earnings, at 955 pounds a week, compared with 505 pounds a week in the accommodation and food services sector, the lowest average earnings in 2023.