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Median UK pay up 1.8% in 2014/15 – latest annual survey from Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in the UK stood at £528 in April 2015, up 1.8% on the previous year, according to provisional figures from the latest annual survey from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). For the year ending 5 April 2015, median gross annual earnings for full-timers were £27,600.

Among the other key findings:

  • The gender pay gap for full-time median earnings fell to 9.4% from 9.6% in 2014, the lowest since the survey began in 1997, although the gap has changed little over the past four years.
  • The bottom 10% of full-time employees earned less than £297 a week; whilst at the other end of the distribution, the top 10% earned more than £1,035 a week.
  • The ratio between earnings at the 90th percentile in the distribution and those at the 10th has remained fairly constant since 1997 when the current statistical series began, standing at around 3.5:1.
  • Private sector earnings as a proportion of public sector pay have remained at around 85% since 2009.

ONS said:

‘Up until 2008, growth was fairly steady, averaging around 4% each year. However, since the start of the economic downturn growth has been slower, with the annual increase averaging around 1.5% per year between 2009 and 2015. To understand changes in earnings in the context of inflation, historic data are adjusted using the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). This gives a measure of the “real” value of earnings, with a decrease meaning that earnings growth is below inflation. Adjusted for inflation, weekly earnings increased by 1.9% compared with 2014. This is the first increase since 2008, and is due to a combination of growth in average earnings and a low level of inflation (the CPI fell by 0.1% in the year to April 2015).’
‘Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2015 Provisional Results’, Office for National Statistics (ONS), November 2015. For more details, please visit: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ashe/annual-survey-of-hours...