The median annual earnings in the United Kingdom was 37,430 British pounds per year in 2024. Annual earnings varied significantly by region, ranging from 47,455 pounds in London to 32,960 pounds in the North East. Along with London, two other areas of the UK had median annual earnings above the UK average; South East England, and Scotland, at 39,038 pounds and 38,315 pounds respectively. Regional Inequality in the UK Various other indicators highlight the degree of regional inequality in the UK, especially between London and the rest of the country. Productivity in London, as measured by output per hour, was 26.2 percent higher than the UK average. By comparison, every other UK region, except the South East, fell below the UK average for productivity. In gross domestic product per head, London was also an outlier. The average GDP per head in the UK was just over 37,000 pounds in 2023, but for London it was almost 64,000 pounds. Again, the South East's GDP per head was slightly above the UK average, with every other region below it. Within London itself, there is also a great degree of inequality. In 2023, for example, the average earnings in Kensington and Chelsea were 964 pounds per week, compared with 675 pounds in Barking and Dagenham. Wages continue to grow in 2025 In March 2025, weekly wages in the UK were growing by around 5.6 percent, or 1.8 percent when adjusted for inflation. For almost two years, wages have grown faster than inflation after a long period where prices were rising faster than wages between 2021 and 2023. This was due to a sustained period of high inflation in the UK, which peaked in October 2022 at 11.1 percent. Although inflation started to slow the following month, it wasn't until June 2023 that wages started to outpace inflation. By this point, the damage caused by high energy and food inflation had led to the the worst Cost of Living Crisis in the UK for a generation.

The median annual earnings for full-time employees in the United Kingdom was just over 39,000 British pounds in 2025, compared with 37,400 pounds in the previous year. At the start of the provided time period, in 1999, the average full-time salary in the UK was 17,800 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.

Full-time workers in London earned an average weekly salary of 958.2 British pounds a week in 2025, which was by far the highest of any region of the United Kingdom. The region with the lowest average salary was North East England, at 681.2 pounds a week.

In 2024 men aged between 50 and 59 were the highest full-time earners in the United Kingdom among different gender and age groups, with men of different ages consistently earning more than women.

Average weekly earnings at industry level including manufacturing, construction and energy, Great Britain, monthly, non-seasonally adjusted. Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey.

The average weekly earnings for full-time workers in the United Kingdom was around 766 British pounds a week in 2025, an increase on the previous year, when it was 728 pounds a week.

Gross weekly and hourly earnings by level of occupation, UK, quarterly, not seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey. These are official statistics in development.

Annual estimates of paid hours worked and earnings for UK employees by sex, and full-time and part-time, by home-based region to local and unitary authority level.

In October 2025, employees in the United Kingdom were earning a median pay of ***** British pounds per month, compared with ***** in the previous month.

Context

Demand for houses has exploded in the UK in the last two years due to the pandemic. As a result, it feels like it is becoming more difficult for young people to afford to buy a house in the near future. I wanted to collect data to see if this sentiment is backed up by numbers.

Content

In this folder you will find the average house price in the UK between between 1975 and 2020, the median wage in the UK between 1999 and 2020. Both of these metrics have been adjusted by inflation up to 2020.

This folder also contains a table containing data on the wage gap in 2021, in the UK and by age group.

Sources

Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/802183/annual-pay-employees-in-the-uk/ and https://www.statista.com/statistics/1002964/average-full-time-annual-earnings-in-the-uk/.

allAgents: https://www.allagents.co.uk/house-prices-adjusted/.

Bank of England: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator.

Average weekly earnings, UK, monthly.

Annual estimates of paid hours worked and earnings for UK employees by sex, and full-time and part-time, by age group.

Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) estimates of paid hours worked and earnings for UK employees by sex, and full time and part time, by region and age group.

Average weekly earnings at sector level headline estimates, Great Britain, monthly, seasonally adjusted. Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey.

Wages in the United Kingdom increased 4.80 percent in September of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Average Weekly Earnings Growth - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Full-time workers in London earned an average salary of around 25.4 British pounds an hour, compared with workers in North East England, who only earned an average of 17.24 pounds an hour, the highest and lowest average hourly wages in the United Kingdom respectively.

Average Earnings Excluding Bonus in the United Kingdom decreased to 4.60 percent in September from 4.70 percent in August of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United Kingdom Average Earnings Excluding Bonus YoY.

United Kingdom (DC)Average Earning Index: IB: Financial Intermediation data was reported at 92.000 1999=100 in Oct 2003. This records an increase from the previous number of 90.300 1999=100 for Sep 2003. United Kingdom (DC)Average Earning Index: IB: Financial Intermediation data is updated monthly, averaging 92.000 1999=100 from Jul 1999 (Median) to Oct 2003, with 52 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 162.500 1999=100 in Feb 2001 and a record low of 80.800 1999=100 in Sep 1999. United Kingdom (DC)Average Earning Index: IB: Financial Intermediation data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office for National Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.G056: Average Earnings Index: Including Bonuses (Discontinued).

United Kingdom (DC)Average Earning Index: IB: Transport, Storage & Communication data was reported at 111.100 1999=100 in Oct 2003. This records an increase from the previous number of 110.800 1999=100 for Sep 2003. United Kingdom (DC)Average Earning Index: IB: Transport, Storage & Communication data is updated monthly, averaging 104.550 1999=100 from Jul 1999 (Median) to Oct 2003, with 52 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 117.800 1999=100 in Jun 2003 and a record low of 95.100 1999=100 in Aug 1999. United Kingdom (DC)Average Earning Index: IB: Transport, Storage & Communication data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office for National Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.G056: Average Earnings Index: Including Bonuses (Discontinued).