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.

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.

In 2025, the average annual full-time salary for men in the United Kingdom was 41,832 British pounds, compared with 35,670 pounds for women, a difference of 6,162 pounds. In the previous year, men earned an average annual salary of 40,053, compared with women who earned 34,001.

Full-time workers in the finance and insurance sector had the highest average annual salaries in the United Kingdom in 2025, at approximately 58,488 British pounds, with those working in accommodation and food service professions having the lowest average salary, at 28,687 pounds per year.

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

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.

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 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.

In 2025, men in the United Kingdom had a higher average hourly full-time salary than women across most age groups, except for 16 to 17 where women had slightly higher earnings, and among those aged between 18 and 21, earnings were almost the same.

Average weekly earnings, UK, monthly.

Wages in the United Kingdom remained unchanged at 733 GBP/Week in September. 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 and earnings for UK employees by sex, and full-time and part-time, by age group.

The median hourly earnings for full-time employees in the United Kingdom was 19.74 British pounds in 2025, compared with 18.72 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.

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.

This dataset provides information about earnings of employees who are working in an area, who are on adult rates and whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. Tables provided here include total gross weekly earnings, and full time weekly earnings with breakdowns by gender, and annual median, mean and lower quartile earnings by borough and UK region. These are provided both in nominal and real terms. Real earnings figures are on sheets labelled "real", are in 2016 prices, and calculated by applying ONS’s annual CPI index series for April to ASHE data. Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is based on a sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue & Customs PAYE records. Information on earnings and hours is obtained in confidence from employers. ASHE does not cover the self-employed nor does it cover employees not paid during the reference period. The earnings information presented relates to gross pay before tax, National Insurance or other deductions, and excludes payments in kind. The confidence figure is the coefficient of variation (CV) of that estimate. The CV is the ratio of the standard error of an estimate to the estimate itself and is expressed as a percentage. The smaller the coefficient of variation the greater the accuracy of the estimate. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV. Results for 2003 and earlier exclude supplementary surveys. In 2006 there were a number of methodological changes made. For further details goto : http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/341.aspx. The headline statistics for ASHE are based on the median rather than the mean. The median is the value below which 50 per cent of employees fall. It is ONS's preferred measure of average earnings as it is less affected by a relatively small number of very high earners and the skewed distribution of earnings. It therefore gives a better indication of typical pay than the mean. Survey data from a sample frame, use caution if using for performance measurement and trend analysis '#' These figures are suppressed as statistically unreliable. ! Estimate and confidence interval not available since the group sample size is zero or disclosive (0-2). Furthermore, data from Abstract of Regional Statistics, New Earnings Survey and ASHE have been combined to create long run historical series of full-time weekly earnings data for London and Great Britain, stretching back to 1965, and is broken down by sex.

Median earnings of residents - Gross Weekly Pay (£) This measure is the median weekly earnings for full-time employees (working 39.1 hours per week – 2017 average) where half the workers earn above that amount, and half earn below that amount This gives an indication of living standards people are able to enjoy through their disposable income. Changes in the composition of the workforce, demonstrated by changes in median earnings, can show the effect of council’s Economic Strategy. For example, creation of lower paid jobs, or loss of highly-paid jobs, can both act to reduce the median.

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

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