In 2023, the lowest-paid occupation in the United Kingdom was estimated to be retail cashiers, and check-out operators, at 382.7 pounds per week, followed by childminders at 385.4 pounds.

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.

Estimates of the number and proportion of UK employee jobs with hourly pay below the living wage, by region, work geography, local authority and Parliamentary constituency, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Every year between 2013 and 2021, employees from the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group had the lowest average hourly pay out of all ethnic groups.

Wages in the United Kingdom increased 5.30 percent in April 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.

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.

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

Average weekly earnings at sector level including manufacturing, finance and services, Great Britain, monthly, non-seasonally adjusted. Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey.

39.8% of workers from the Indian ethnic group were in 'professional' jobs in 2021 – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups in this role.

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.

This paper examines the extent of state dependence in unemployment and the role played in this by intervening low-wage employment. A range of dynamic random and fixed-effects estimators are compared. Low-wage employment is found to have almost as large an adverse effect as unemployment on future prospects and the difference in their effects is found to be insignificant. Evidence is presented that low-wage jobs act as the main conduit for repeat unemployment and considerably increases its probability. Obtaining a higher-wage job reduces the increased risk of repeat unemployment to insignificance.

Between 2018 and 2022, people in households in the ‘other’, Asian and black ethnic groups were the most likely to be in persistent low income, both before and after housing costs, out of all ethnic groups.

Key information about United Kingdom Monthly Earnings

• United Kingdom Monthly Earnings stood at 3,592 USD in Nov 2024, compared with the previous figure of 3,694 USD in Oct 2024
• UK Monthly Earnings data is updated monthly, available from Jan 2000 to Nov 2024, with an average number of 2,857 USD
• The data reached the an all-time high of 3,707 USD in Sep 2024 and a record low of 1,817 USD in Sep 2000

• In the latest reports, UK Population reached 68 million people in Dec 2023
• Unemployment Rate of UK dropped to 4 % in Oct 2023
• The country's Labour Force Participation Rate dropped to 63 % in Oct 2023

United Kingdom UK: Wage And Salary Workers: Modeled ILO Estimate: Male: % of Male Employment data was reported at 80.506 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 80.497 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Wage And Salary Workers: Modeled ILO Estimate: Male: % of Male Employment data is updated yearly, averaging 82.171 % from Dec 1991 (Median) to 2017, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 83.941 % in 2000 and a record low of 80.497 % in 2016. United Kingdom UK: Wage And Salary Workers: Modeled ILO Estimate: Male: % of Male Employment data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Employment and Unemployment. Wage and salaried workers (employees) are those workers who hold the type of jobs defined as 'paid employment jobs,' where the incumbents hold explicit (written or oral) or implicit employment contracts that give them a basic remuneration that is not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work.; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in November 2017.; Weighted average; Data up to 2016 are estimates while data from 2017 are projections.

United Kingdom UK: Wage And Salaried Workers: Modeled ILO Estimate: % of Total Employment data was reported at 84.510 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 84.502 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Wage And Salaried Workers: Modeled ILO Estimate: % of Total Employment data is updated yearly, averaging 86.586 % from Dec 1991 (Median) to 2017, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 87.745 % in 2001 and a record low of 84.502 % in 2016. United Kingdom UK: Wage And Salaried Workers: Modeled ILO Estimate: % of Total Employment data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Employment and Unemployment. Wage and salaried workers (employees) are those workers who hold the type of jobs defined as 'paid employment jobs,' where the incumbents hold explicit (written or oral) or implicit employment contracts that give them a basic remuneration that is not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work.; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in November 2017.; Weighted average; Data up to 2016 are estimates while data from 2017 are projections.

This document shows the interests declared by Low Pay Commissioners as of July 2023, in accordance with the LPC’s conflict of interest policy.

The story will look at how pay has changed in the UK since 1986, comparing increases for the lowest and highest paid. It will look at changes since the introduction of the National Minimum Wage and also the impact of recessions over the period. It will also show the types of jobs that pay the most as well as differences across the regions of the UK.

Source agency: Office for National Statistics

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Earnings in the UK over the past 25 years