Average weekly earnings

Money paid per week, per job to employees in Great Britain in return for work done.

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Time period:
April to June 2018

Release date:
14 August 2018

Release frequency:
Monthly

Next release:
11 September 2018

Estimates of pay show increases in both nominal and real average earnings

Annual growth rates, Great Britain, April to June 2013 to April to June 2018, seasonally adjusted

Source: Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey, Office for National Statistics

Between April to June 2017 and April to June 2018, in real terms (that is, adjusted for consumer price inflation), regular pay for employees in Great Britain increased by 0.4% and total pay for employees in Great Britain increased by 0.1%.

Richard Clegg, Head of Labour Market Statistics

Average regular and total pay increases in nominal terms

For June 2018 in nominal terms (that is, not adjusted for price inflation):

  • average regular pay (excluding bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £488 per week before tax and other deductions from pay, up from £474 per week for a year earlier
  • average total pay (including bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £518 per week before tax and other deductions from pay, up from £507 per week for a year earlier

For April to June 2018:

  • 75.6% of people aged from 16 to 64 years were in work, up from 75.1% for a year earlier
  • 80.1% of men aged from 16 to 64 years were in work; the employment rate for men has not been higher since February to April 1991
  • 71.0% of women aged from 16 to 64 years were in work, up from 70.5% for a year earlier

Between April to June 2017 and April to June 2018, in nominal terms:

  • regular pay increased by 2.7%, slightly lower than the growth rate between March to May 2017 and March to May 2018 (2.8%)
  • total pay increased by 2.4%, slightly lower than the growth rate between March to May 2017 and March to May 2018 (2.5%)

Regular and total pay in real terms remain below pre-downturn peak

For June 2018 in real terms (constant 2015 prices):

  • average regular pay (excluding bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £461 per week before tax and other deductions from pay, £12 lower than the pre-downturn peak of £473 per week for March 2008
  • average total pay (including bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £489 per week before tax and other deductions from pay, £33 lower than the pre-downturn peak of £522 per week for February 2008

These estimates of average weekly earnings in real terms are calculated by deflating the nominal earnings estimates by the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH), our preferred measure of consumer price inflation.

The CPIH figures and, consequently, the estimates of average weekly earnings in real terms, start in January 2005. Between January 2005 and June 2018:

  • average total pay for employees in Great Britain increased by 37.7% (from £376 per week to £518 per week)
  • the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) increased by 35.2%

Average weekly earnings data

  • EARN01: Average Weekly Earnings

    Dataset | Released 14 August 2018

    Average Weekly Earnings (AWE), seasonally adjusted. This spreadsheet includes the headline estimates of earnings growth based on the Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey.

  • EARN02: Average Weekly Earnings by sector

    Dataset | Released 14 August 2018

    Average weekly earnings by sector (Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey).

View all data

Using average weekly earnings data

Glossary

Total pay
Average pay including bonuses.

Regular pay
Average pay excluding bonus payments.

Nominal terms
Not adjusted for price inflation.

Measuring this data

Where does the data come from?
Average weekly earnings is based solely on the Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey (MWSS), which covers employees working in businesses with 20 or more employees in all industrial sectors in Great Britain (an adjustment is made for smaller businesses).

How is it measured?
Average weekly earnings measures money paid per week, per job to employees in Great Britain in return for work done, before tax and other deductions from pay. The estimates are not just a measure of pay rises as they do not, for example, adjust for changes in the proportion of the workforce who work full-time or part-time, or other compositional changes within the workforce. The estimates do not include earnings of self-employed people or unearned income, benefits in kind or arrears of pay.

Estimates are available for both total pay (which includes bonuses) and for regular pay (which excludes bonus payments). Estimates are available in both nominal terms (not adjusted for consumer price inflation) and real terms (adjusted for consumer price inflation). The estimates of average weekly earnings in real terms are calculated by deflating the nominal earnings estimates by the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH).

As well as tracking changes in earnings, AWE makes an explicit estimate of earnings in pounds. Separate estimates are made of bonus and arrears pay. AWE uses employment weights that are recalculated every month. This means that AWE reflects the composition of the workforce at any given time, and that changes between months capture shifts in the workforce as well as changes in earnings within industries. These are both advantages over the former AEI measure, and two of the main reasons for the switch between the measures.

As well as pay settlements, the estimates reflect bonuses, changes in the number of paid hours worked and the impact of employees paid at different rates joining and leaving individual businesses. The estimates also reflect changes in the overall structure of the workforce; for example, more low paid jobs in the economy would have a downward effect on the earnings growth rate.

Strengths and limitations

For estimates of short-term pay or earnings growth, the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) statistic is the source we recommend, providing estimates of monthly and annual change in employees’ average weekly earnings for the main industrial sectors.

AWE was accredited a National Statistic in November 2009, and replaced the Average Earnings Index (AEI) as the lead measure of short-term earnings growth in January 2010.

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Contact us

Richard Clegg
labour.market@ons.gov.uk
+44 (0)1633 455400

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