Full-time workers in London earned an average salary of around 24 British pounds an hour, compared with workers in North East England, who only earned an average of 16.53 pounds an hour, the highest and lowest average hourly wages in the United Kingdom respectively.

In 2024, men in the United Kingdom had a higher average hourly full-time salary than women across most age groups, except for 16 to 17 when women had slightly higher earnings, and among those aged between 18 and 21, earnings were almost the same.

The median hourly earnings for full-time employees in the United Kingdom was 18.72 British pounds in 2024, compared with 17.48 pounds in the previous year. At the start of this provided time period, in 1997, the average hourly wage in the UK was 7.92 pounds per hour, rising to more than ten pounds per hour by 2003, and above 15 pounds per hour by 2020. Minimum and living wage in the UK In the United Kingdom, employers are expected to pay their employees a minimum wage that is determined by how old they are. Under 18s for example, had a minimum wage of 5.28 British pounds in 2023, with the figure increasing to 7.49 pounds those aged 18 to 20, 10.18 for 21 to 22 year old's, and 10.42 for those aged 23 and over. There is also a voluntarily paid living Wage that employers can choose to pay their workers. For the 2023/24 financial year this was twelve pounds an hour, rising to 13.15 pounds an hour for workers based in London. Icelandic the highest earners in Europe Iceland had the highest average annual wage in the Europe in 2022 at around 79,500 U.S dollars. This was followed by Luxembourg at 78,300 dollars, Switzerland at 72,990 and Belgium at 64,850 dollars. The United Kingdom’s average annual wage amounted to around 53,985 U.S dollars in the same year. In this year, the country with the lowest annual salary in Europe was Greece, at 25,980 pounds per year.

In 2024, the average full-time hourly wage for men in the United Kingdom was 19.36 British pounds per hour, compared with 17.89 pounds per hour for women.

Female part-time workers in the United Kingdom earned an average of 13.37 British pounds an hour, while men earned 13 pounds an hour.

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

The average hourly salary for full-time workers in the financial and insurance sector in the United Kingdom in 2022 was 25.19 pounds an hour, the most of any sector in that year. By contrast, workers in the accommodation and food service sector earned an average of 12.32 pounds an hour.

Wages in the United Kingdom grew by approximately 5.9 percent in January 2025, although when adjusted for inflation, wages only grew in real terms by 2.1 percent. When bonus pay is included in wage growth calculations, wages grew by 5.8 percent in nominal terms, and by 2.2 percent in real terms. Twenty months of inflation outpacing wages Between November 2021 and June 2023 inflation was higher than wage growth in the UK, resulting in falling real terms earnings throughout this 20-month period. While UK inflation peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022, it was not until April 2023 that it fell below double figures, and not until May 2024 that it reached the Bank of England's target of two percent. Forecasts from the Autumn 2024 budget predict that the annual UK inflation will for 2024 will be 2.5 percent, down from 7.3 percent in 2023 and 9.1 percent in 2022. Due to high inflation, the UK's minimum wage also rose quite significantly during this period, with the "main" rate increasing from 8.91 pounds per hour in 2021 to 12.21 pounds per hour for 2025. Average earnings and gender pay gap For full-time workers in the United Kingdom, the median average annual earnings was 37,430 British pounds in 2024, compared with 34,663 pounds in 2023. In London, average earnings were significantly higher than the rest of the country, at 47,455 pounds. Just two other areas of the United Kingdom, the South East and Scotland, had annual salaries above the UK average. North East England had the lowest average salary, at 32,960 pounds. As of 2024, the gender pay gap for median gross hourly earnings in the UK was 13.1 percent for all workers, falling to seven percent for full-time workers and -3 percent for part-time workers. Compared with 1997, when the gender pay gap was 27.5 percent for all workers, there has been a degree of progress, although, at current trends, it will be some time before the gap is closed entirely.

Annual estimates of paid hours worked and earnings for UK employees by sex, and full-time and part-time, by region and two-digit Standard Industrial Classification 2007.

Annual estimates of paid hours worked and earnings for UK employees by sex, and full-time and part-time, by four-digit Standard Industrial Classification 2007.

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.

The highest earning age group for full-time workers in the United Kingdom in 2024 were those aged between 40 and 49, with an average hourly salary of 21.44 British pounds an hour. By contrast, workers that were 16 to 17 earned just 8.59 pounds an hour, and were the lowest earning age group.

Wages in the United Kingdom decreased to 711 GBP/Week in January from 712 GBP/Week in December of 2024. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Average Weekly Wages - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Annual estimates of paid hours worked, weekly, hourly and annual earnings for UK employees by sex, and full-time and part-time, by region and four-digit Standard Occupational Classification.

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 33.2 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 31,947 pounds in 2021, but for London it was 56,431 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 2021, for example, the average earnings in the historic City of London borough were 1,138 pounds per week, compared with 588 pounds in Redbridge, a borough in the North East of London. Wages finally catch up with inflation in 2023 After the initial economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, wages began to steadily grow in the UK. This reached a peak in June 2021, when weekly wages for regular pay were growing at 7.3 percent, or 5.2 percent when adjusted for inflation. By that November, however, prices began to rise faster than wage growth, with inflation surging throughout 2022. In October 2022, for example, while regular pay was growing by 6.1 percent, the inflation rate had surged to 11.1 percent, Although inflation peaked in that 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 has precipitated the worst Cost of Living Crisis in the UK for a generation.

Annual estimates of paid hours worked and earnings for UK employees by sex, and full-time and part-time, by public and private sector, and non-profit bodies and mutual associations.

Wages in Manufacturing in the United Kingdom increased to 776 GBP/Week in January from 769 GBP/Week in December of 2024. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Average Weekly Wages in Manufacturing - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Wages in the United Kingdom increased 5.80 percent in January 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.

These figures show the median gross annual pay for full-time workers on a workplace basis for the area, who are on adults rates of pay, and whose pay was not affected by absence. Figures are for GB pounds per annum. Full-time workers are defined as those who work more than 30 paid hours per week or those in teaching professions working 25 paid hours or more per week. Figures for earnings come from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) which is based on a 1 per cent sample of employees, information on whose earnings and hours is obtained from employers. The survey does not cover people who are self-employed, nor does it cover employees not paid during the reference period. Information relates to a pay period in April. The earnings information collected relates to gross pay before tax, national insurance or other deductions, and excludes payments in kind (i.e. payment made in the form of goods and services rather than cash). It is restricted to earnings relating to the survey pay period and so excludes payments of arrears from another period made during the survey period; any payments due as a result of a pay settlement but not yet paid at the time of the survey will also be excluded. Estimates for 2011 and subsequent years use a weighting scheme based on occupations which have been coded according to Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2010 that replaced SOC 2000. Therefore care should be taken when making comparisons with earlier years. Where the estimate is assessed with a coefficient of variation (CV) of over 20 per cent, these figures have been suppressed, as they are considered by the ONS as unreliable.Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey (MWSS) is the main source of information for three key indicators of Short-Term Earnings generated by the Office for National Statistics: the Average Earnings Index, the Average Weekly Earnings and the Index of Labour Costs per Hour.

The MWSS is distributed monthly to approximately 8,800 businesses and covers around 12.8 million employees. Companies are required to respond under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947. Businesses are selected from the Inter-Departmental Business Register. Every company with more than 1,000 employees is surveyed. Sampling is random for businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees. The MWSS does not cover businesses with fewer than 20 employees, and so the very smallest businesses in the economy are not represented. The self-employed and government-supported trainees are also not surveyed.

The major strength of the MWSS is that it provides comprehensive information on earnings, by industry. In terms of industrial coverage, information on all industries is collected, as defined by the Standard Industrial Classifications (1992). Information on both the public and private sectors is available.

Linking to other business studies
These data contain Inter-Departmental Business Register reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.

Latest edition information
For the forty-second edition (February 2025), four monthly data files for July to October 2024 have been added to the study.

Main Topics:

The survey measures commission, bonuses, overtime and pay award arrears, in addition to pay. The survey also collects data on the number of employees on the payroll. The measures are the sums for each company, and are not subdivided by occupation or by individual workers. The survey excludes redundancy payments and benefits in kind.

The data files have been processed to include average weekly pay data and all of the processing variables such as grossing factors and grossed values.