In April 2025, the UK minimum wage for adults over the age of 21 in will be 12.21 pounds per hour. For the 2025/26 financial year, there will be four minimum wage categories, three of which are based on age and one for apprentice workers. Apprentices, and workers under the age of 18 will have a minimum wage of 7.55 pounds an hour, increasing to ten pounds for those aged 18 to 20. When the minimum wage was first introduced in 1999, there were just two age categories; 18 to 21, and 22 and over. This increased to three categories in 2004, four in 2010, and five between 2016 and 2023, before being reduced down to four in the most recent year. The living wage The living wage is an alternative minimum wage amount that employers in the UK can voluntarily pay their employees. It is calculated independently of the legal minimum wage and results in a higher value figure. In 2023/24, for example, the living wage was twelve pounds an hour for the UK as a whole and 13.15 for workers in London, where the cost of living is typically higher. This living wage is different from what the UK government has named the national living wage, which was 10.42 in the same financial year. Between 2011/12 and 2023/24, the living wage has increased by 4.80 pounds, while the London living wage has grown by 4.85 pounds. Wage growth cancelled-out by high inflation 2021-2023 For a long period between the middle of 2021 and late 2023, average wage growth in the UK was unable to keep up with record inflation levels, resulting in the biggest fall in disposable income since 1956. Although the UK government attempted to mitigate the impact of falling living standards through a series of cost of living payments, the situation has still been very difficult for households. After peaking at 11.1 percent in October 2022, the UK's inflation rate remained in double figures until March 2023, and did not fall to the preferred rate of two percent until May 2024. As of November 2024, regular weekly pay in the UK was growing by 5.6 percent in nominal terms, and 2.5 percent when adjusted for inflation.

From April 2025 onwards, the UK's main national minimum wage category, the national living wage, will rise to ***** pounds per hour, up from ***** pounds per hour in the previous financial year. This amount will apply to workers aged 21 and over, compared with 2022 and 2023 when it was only for workers aged 23 and over, and for those aged 25 and over between 2016 and 2021. The main minimum wage from 2010 to 2015 was the 21+ rate, and 22+ rate between 1999 and 2009. Evolution of the minimum wage Since its introduction in 1999, the minimum wage has had various rate categories, usually based on age. For the first five years, there were two categories, one for workers 18 to 21, and another for workers aged 22 and over. In 2004, a minimum wage for under 18s was introduced, and between 2010 and 2015 there were three rates based on age, and one for apprenticeships. Another age based-rate was added in 2016, but from 2024 onwards, the model will revert to four rate categories overall. In addition to the legal minimum wage, there is also a voluntary real living wage, which for 2024/25 is **** pounds per hour, rising to ***** pounds per hour for workers in London. Wages continue to outpace inflation in 2024 Since July 2023, wages have grown faster than inflation in the UK with December 2024 seeing regular weekly earnings grow by *** percent, compared with the CPI inflation rate of *** percent that month. For almost two years between November 2021 and June 2023, wage growth struggled to keep up with inflation, with the biggest gap occurring in October 2022 when inflation peaked at **** percent. The fall in real earnings in one of the most important factors in the UK's ongoing cost of living crisis. At the height of the crisis, around ** percent of UK households were reporting a monthly increase in their cost of living, with this falling to ** percent by March 2024.

Number of UK jobs paid below minimum wage by sex, age, occupation and industry, and region, annual estimates, 1998 to 2023. Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

For workers under the age of **, the national minimum wage in the United Kingdom is **** British pounds per hour as of April 2025. This is an increase of **** pounds when compared with 2024 when the minimum wage for this age group was **** pounds. This particular minimum wage category was ***** pounds when it was first introduced in 2004, five years after the launch of the minimum age for workers aged 19 or over. Minimum wage rates history In 1999, when the UK minimum wage was first introduced, there were two different wage rates; one for those aged 18 to 21, and another for those aged 22 or over. These two rates were joined by an under ** rate in 2004, and then in 2010 the minimum wage was reorganized to include a rate for apprentice workers, while the top rate was increased to include workers aged 21. As of 2025, after several further waves of reorganization, there are **** different wage categories. For workers aged 21 and over, the minimum hourly wage is ***** pounds, falling to *** pounds for ** to 20-year-olds, and 7.55 pounds for under 18s and apprentices. Wages continue growing in 2025 As of January 2025, weekly wages were growing by approximately *** percent, the twentieth-consecutive month of wage growth following a long period of wages falling. High inflation throughout 2022 and 2023, meant that prices were rising faster than pay for a long twenty-month period between ************* and *********. With inflation down, and wages still growing, there are hopeful signs the UK might be over the worst of the Cost of Living Crisis, ongoing since late 2021. As of **********, however, almost ** percent of UK households were still reporting an increase in their living costs, relative to the previous month.

The voluntarily paid living wage in the United Kingdom for 2024/25 is 12.6 pounds per hour, with this rising to 13.85 pounds per hour for workers in London. For the same year the legal minimum wage for those over the age of 21 was 11.44 pounds per hour.

This statistic displays the national minimum wage and national living wage per hour as of October 2018, with forecasts for 2019 through to 2023. In 2018, there was a difference of ** pence per hour between the hourly national minimum and national living wage. This gap was expected to grow to ** pence per hour by 2023.

National Minimum Wage data was reported at 600.000 TJS in Dec 2023. This stayed constant from the previous number of 600.000 TJS for Nov 2023. National Minimum Wage data is updated monthly, averaging 400.000 TJS from Jan 2012 (Median) to Dec 2023, with 144 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 600.000 TJS in Dec 2023 and a record low of 80.000 TJS in Aug 2012. National Minimum Wage data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Аgency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tajikistan – Table TJ.G010: Official Minimum Wages.

Annual estimates of the number and proportion of UK jobs paying below various 10 pence thresholds and the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, by employee age group, from 1998 to 2023.

In the three months to April 2025, average weekly earnings in the United Kingdom grew by 5.2 percent, while pay including bonuses grew by 5.3 percent, when compared with the same period leading to April 2024. In the same month, the inflation rate for the Consumer Price Index was 3.5 percent, indicating that wages were rising faster than prices that month. Average salaries in the UK In 2024, the average salary for full-time workers in the UK was 37,430 British pounds a year, up from 34,963 in the previous year. In London, the average annual salary was far higher than the rest of the country, at 47,455 pounds per year, compared with just 32,960 in North East England. There also still exists a noticeable gender pay gap in the UK, which was seven percent for full-time workers in 2024, down from 7.5 percent in 2023. Lastly, the monthly earnings of the top one percent in the UK was 15,887 pounds as of November 2024, far higher than even that of the average for the top five percent, who earned 7,641 pounds per month, while pay for the lowest 10 percent of earners was just 805 pounds per month. Waves of industrial action in the UK One of the main consequences of high inflation and low wage growth throughout 2022 and 2023 was an increase in industrial action in the UK. In December 2022, for example, there were approximately 830,000 working days lost due to labor disputes. Throughout this month, workers across various industry sectors were involved in industrial disputes, such as nurses, train drivers, and driving instructors. Many of the workers who took part in strikes were part of the UK's public sector, which saw far weaker wage growth than that of the private sector throughout 2022. Widespread industrial action continued into 2023, with approximately 303,000 workers involved in industrial disputes in March 2023. There was far less industrial action by 2024, however, due to settlements in many of the disputes, although some are ongoing as of 2025.

Albania Average Monthly Wage: Annual: Official Minimum data was reported at 38,500.000 ALL in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 32,000.000 ALL for 2022. Albania Average Monthly Wage: Annual: Official Minimum data is updated yearly, averaging 15,500.000 ALL from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2023, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 38,500.000 ALL in 2023 and a record low of 840.000 ALL in 1992. Albania Average Monthly Wage: Annual: Official Minimum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Institute of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Albania – Table AL.G030: Average Monthly Wage: by Sector.

For the 2025/26 financial year, the annual salary for Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom was 93,904 British pounds. This marked an increase of around 2,558 pounds when compared with the previous year, when the annual salary was 91,346 pounds. In 2021/22, there was no increase in pay for MPs in the UK because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the annual salary remaining at 81,932 pounds per year at that time. Comparison with average earnings In 2023, the median earnings for full-time workers in the UK was 34,963 pounds a year, meaning that MPs earned more than 50,000 pounds more than the average worker. The appropriate salary for MPs is a charged issue in the UK, especially with the country currently facing its worst Cost of Living Crisis in decades. As of January 2024, just over half of Britons were facing higher living costs than a year earlier, while 53 percent thought the economy was the main issue facing the country. MPs themselves are not responsible for deciding their pay, and since 2011, decisions regarding MPs pay and expenses lie with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). House of Commons demographics As of the last election most of the elected MPs were aged between 50 and 59, with only 21 of them in their twenties or younger. In terms of gender, there are almost two male MPs for every one woman, although this is a much higher than in 1979 when only 3 percent of MPs were women. Since 1987, the number of non-white MPs has increased from four Labour MPs to 65 in 2019, 41 Labour Party MPs, 22 Conservatives, and two who belong to the Liberal Democrats. With a 2024 general election likely, the composition of parliament is set to change significantly. Although a Labour majority is currently the most likely outcome based on recent polls, whichever party wins will probably lead the most ethnically diverse parliament in history, as well as the one with the highest number of female MPs.