Average Earnings: Key Economic Indicators

Average Earnings: Regularly updated data on average weekly earnings, including breakdowns by public and private sectors.

This document focuses on standard official sources. For more timely data on the labour market see Library paper Coronavirus: Impact on the labour market.

In April 2019 median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in the UK were £585, up 2.8% on April 2018. Adjusted for inflation, median earnings for full-time employees increased by 0.7%.

More timely but less detailed data show average weekly earnings for all employees in Great Britain increased by 0.7% excluding bonuses in the three months to May 2020 compared with the previous year. Average weekly pay including bonuses decreased by 0.3%.

Inflation as measured by the CPI averaged 1.0% over the same period. After adjusting for inflation, average weekly earnings excluding bonuses were 0.2% lower than the previous year and average pay including bonuses were 1.3% lower.

Trends by Sector

Average weekly total pay (including bonuses) fell by 2.6% in the private sector and grew by 3.7% in the public sector in the three months to May 2020 compared with the year before.

Pay Levels

Median hourly earnings (excluding overtime) were £14.80 for full-time employees at April 2019: £15.34 for men working full-time and £13.97 for women.

Median hourly earnings (excluding overtime) were £9.94 for part-time employees; £9.70 for men and £10.00 for women. Women are more likely than men to work part-time.

The median is the point at which half earn more and half earn less.