Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: April 2025

• Labour market overview, UK

• Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK

• Employment in the UK

• Vacancies and jobs in the UK

The following information is for the period from December 2024 to February 2025.

• For this release we have implemented revisions, on an exceptional basis, back to October 2020 to allow for late and updated returns we received from one business to be included and improve the quality of the estimates.

• At the whole economy level, these revisions are generally small and within the range we would expect to see during seasonal adjustment reviews; as the estimates are broken down below the whole economy level, the revisions become larger.

• Annual growth in employees' average earnings for regular earnings (excluding bonuses) was 5.9% and total earnings (including bonuses) was 5.6%.

• Annual growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), was 2.1% for regular pay and 1.9% for total pay.

• Annual average regular earnings growth was 5.9% for the private sector and 5.7% for the public sector.

Average weekly earnings (AWE) were estimated at £716 for total earnings and £670 for regular earnings in February 2025. Figure 1 shows that AWE have steadily increased over the long term.

The annual growth in employees' average regular earnings (excluding bonuses) was 5.9% in December 2024 to February 2025. Growth was last higher than this in January to March 2024, when it was 6.0%.

Annual growth in total earnings (including bonuses) was 5.6% in December 2024 to February 2025. This is the same as the previous three-month period. Growth was last higher than this in October to December 2024, when it was 6.0%.

In real terms (adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH)), regular pay growth was 2.1% in December 2024 to February 2025 and total pay growth was 1.9%. Both real regular and total annual growth are equal to the previous three-month period, and it was last higher in the period before this. The recent increase in inflation has reduced the real annual growth rate.

Figure 3 shows a comparison of three-month average weekly earnings real total and regular pay annual growth rates and average three-month inflation. CPIH was an average of 3.7% for December 2024 to February 2025.

CPIH is our headline measure of inflation. However, we also publish our supplementary X09: Real average weekly earnings using consumer price inflation (CPI) dataset, excluding owner occupiers' housing costs. Using CPI real earnings, real regular pay rose on the year by 3.0% and real total pay rose by 2.8% on the year. Real regular annual growth was equal in the previous three-month period at 3.0%, whereas real total annual growth was higher in the previous three-month period at 2.9%.

The Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK bulletin provides additional insights into the estimate of growth in median and mean pay. It also provides a timelier estimate of median pay, but this is subject to revisions. The two data sources generally trend well for mean total pay.

However, there will be differences between the two data sources because of timing and definitional differences, as described in our Comparison of labour market data sources methodology.

Sector and industry

Annual average regular earnings growth for the private sector was 5.9% in December 2024 to February 2025 (Figure 4). This was equal to the previous three-month period. Regular growth for the private sector was last higher than 5.9% in October to December 2024, when it was 6.2%. For the public sector, annual average regular earnings growth was 5.7%. This was up on the previous three-month period (5.2%) and was last higher in April to June 2024 (6.0%). This follows the public sector pay rises now coming through in the 3-month growth rate.

Annual average total earnings growth for the private sector was 5.6% in December 2024 to February 2025. This was down on the previous three-month period, when it was 5.8%. For the public sector, annual average total earnings growth was 5.7%. This was up on the previous three-month period, when it was 5.2%. It was last higher in March to May 2024, when it was 6.4%.

Figure 5 shows that all sectors show a relatively strong annual regular growth rate in December 2024 to February 2025. The wholesaling, retailing, hotels and restaurants sector showed the strongest regular growth rate at 6.8%, followed by construction at 6.2%. However, note that the wholesaling, retailing, hotels and restaurants sector are affected by a base effect from last year. The finance and business services had the lowest annual regular growth rate at 4.8%.

Similarly, all broad sectors have strong annual growth rates for total growth. The construction industry shows the strongest growth rate at 6.1% in December 2024 to February 2025.

As noted in the previous bulletin, we were working, as an exception, on opening up revisions further back in time than usual to allow for late and updated returns we received from one business to be included. We have now concluded this work and, as part of this release, we have revised the estimates back to October 2020 to improve the quality of our estimates.

The whole economy; private sector; services sector, wholesaling, retailing, hotels and restaurants sector and the retail trade and repairs industry have all been revised back to October 2020 for nominal and real, and total and regular earnings. All the other sectors have been revised according to our revisions policy and, as usual, the January 2025 estimates that were published as provisional in the March 2025 publication are now revised, including the exceptional revision in the April 2025 publication.

Impact on the estimates

Summary

At the whole economy level, the revisions are generally small and within the range we see during seasonal adjustment reviews. As expected, as the estimates are broken down below the whole economy level, the revisions become larger. The largest revisions are seen in the wholesaling, retailing, hotels and restaurants sector and the retail trade and repairs industry, which warranted the exceptional revisions to be implemented. Some periods see bigger revisions than others.

The revisions are affecting both total and regular pay for nominal and real measures. Table X04: Impact of Average Weekly Earnings exceptional revisions, shows in detail the revisions for each period affected for the different measures from our published Average weekly earnings datasets.

For the whole economy for regular earnings 3-month annual growth rate, which is one of our headline measures, most of the periods showed a revision of less than 0.2 percentage points between the published estimate in March 2025 and the revised estimate in April 2025 (Figure 6). This is generally what we would expect to see when either going from provisional to revised or for the annual seasonal review revisions.

Early 2022 and July 2024 to September 2024 showed slightly larger revisions at either 0.2 percentage points or up to 0.3 percentage points and further raised these levels. However, the pattern of the annual 3-month growth has not changed by implementing these exceptional revisions.

We saw a similar impact for the whole economy total earnings 3-month annual growth rate, where most of the periods showed a revision of less than 0.2 percentage points between the published estimate in March 2025 and the revised estimate in April 2025. Again, early 2022 and July 2024 to September 2024 showed slightly larger revisions at either 0.2 percentage points or up to around 0.3 percentage points and further raised these levels. However, the pattern of annual 3-month growth has not changed by implementing these exceptional revisions.

As the estimates are broken down below the whole economy level, the revisions become larger, which warranted the exceptional revisions to be implemented.

For the private sector 3-month annual growth rate, around three-quarters of the periods for total and regular pay showed a revision of less than 0.2 percentage points between the published estimate in March 2025 and the revised estimate in April 2025. Again, for both measures early 2022 and July 2024 to September 2024 showed larger revisions of 0.3 percentage points and up to 0.4 percentage points in the 3-months to April 2022 for regular pay and in the 3-months to February 2022 for total pay.

The wholesaling, retailing, hotels and restaurants sector 3-month annual regular growth rate revisions are much larger as the revised data have more of an impact at this level. The largest revisions were between the three months to December 2021 to May 2022, when the revisions were between 1.1 to 1.7 percentage points and more recently from the three months to July 2024 to September 2024, when they were around 1.0 percentage points. A similar pattern is seen for total pay.

The retail trade and repairs industry showed the largest revisions. The largest revisions were for the periods between the three months to November 2021 to May 2022, when the revisions were between 1.5 to 3.4 percentage points and more recently from the three months to July 2024 to September 2024, when they were around 2.1 percentage points. A similar pattern is seen for total pay.

We have implemented these revisions as an exception, since we deemed necessary for ensuring the quality of our estimates, this is not usual practice, we will continue to review our methods and systems with our stakeholders and develop the estimates in-line with feedback and method reviews.

In addition to the exceptional revisions implemented this month, we are currently reviewing the seasonal adjustment parameters as part of the annual review. The review may lead to revisions to the entire historical Average weekly earnings (AWE) time series and will be implemented either in the May 2025 or June 2025 publication.

Arrears payment

Pay award arrears are collected separately on the questionnaire; this specifically covers earnings arising from a backdated pay increase, not late payment of overtime or bonuses. Arrears payments are reflected in estimates at the time they were paid, and not in the period they are awarded for. Therefore, back series are not revised. Our Average weekly earnings (AWE) headline estimates exclude arrears payments.

Bonus

A bonus is a form of reward or recognition granted by an employer in addition to basic pay. When an employee receives a bonus payment, there is no expectation or assumption that the bonus will be used to cover any specific expense. The value and timing of a bonus payment can be at the discretion of the employer or stipulated in workplace agreements.

When arrears or bonus payments are backdated, people who have left the business but are entitled to these back payments will be included in the number of employees that have received pay in that period. This results in more employees being added to payroll for that month and will have an impact on the average pay as more employees will be included in the calculation. The survey only requests one employee figure so we are unable to split out those who have left the company and only eligible to the backpay and not the regular pay. For the majority of time, the impact of this on regular pay is minimal but for certain periods, where there has been a large backpay covering a long period, the calculation of the average pay will be affected and will be more accurately reflected in the following month's data.

Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs

As of 21 March 2017, the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), as detailed in our Consumer Price Inflation quality and methodology information (QMI), became our lead measure of inflation. It is our most comprehensive measure of UK consumer price inflation.

Revisions

Average weekly earnings (AWE) are generally published on a provisional basis around six to seven weeks after the end of the month in question, although sometimes a week later in the months following Christmas and Easter. The unadjusted estimates are finalised the following month (10 to 11 weeks after the end of the reference period). Seasonally adjusted estimates are subject to further revisions at later dates.

A more detailed glossary is available.

Data sources

Average weekly earnings (AWE) is the lead monthly measure of average weekly earnings per employee, as explained in Section 2: Earnings of our Guide to labour market statistics methodology. It is calculated using information based on the Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey (MWSS), which samples around 9,000 employers, covering around 12.8 million employees in Great Britain.

The survey response rate was 82% in February 2025.

Estimates are available for both total pay (which includes bonus payments) and regular pay (which excludes bonus payments). Estimates are available in both nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation) and real terms (adjusted for inflation).

Estimates of pay growth are also published using HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data in the Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK bulletin. The HMRC estimates are presented in median pay terms, but they also include mean pay, as does AWE. There are some differences between the sources, most notably that the HMRC estimates include arrears payments and any redundancy payments that are made through payroll. Further detail is provided in our Comparison of labour market data sources methodology.

Data methods

AWE for any given month is the ratio of estimated total pay for the whole economy, divided by the total number of employees. As a result, AWE is not a measure of rates of pay and can be affected by changes in the composition of an enterprise's workforce. 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.

Composition of the workforce

AWE reflects changes to the composition of the workforce. In AWE, all other things being equal, an increase in the relative number of employees in a high-paying industry will cause average earnings to rise. This is because the mix of jobs would have changed so that there are more high-paying jobs. Conversely, an increase in the relative number of employees in low-paying industries would cause average earnings to fall.

This effect is sometimes called the employment contribution to earnings growth, as opposed to the wages contribution, which reflects changes in earnings at individual companies, such as pay rises, promotions, and changes in the composition of individual company workforces. In addition to AWE growth, we publish separate estimates of the wage and employment contributions to AWE growth in supplementary tables called the AWE decomposition.

Base and compositional effects during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic period

During the pandemic period, interpreting average earnings data was difficult. We explain the complexities of interpreting these data in our How COVID-19 has impacted the Average Weekly Earnings data blog post. There were temporary factors that we refer to as base and compositional effects.

The base effect refers to comparing two periods with different circumstances. Throughout the pandemic, different scenarios have affected the base effect. More information on base and compositional effects on the data can be found in our Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: May 2022 bulletin and Section 6: Measuring the data of our Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: July 2024 bulletin.

For additional analysis on the impact of compositional effects on wage growth, see our How furlough and changes in the employee workforce have affected earnings growth during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, UK: 2020 to 2021 article.

Real earnings

Real average weekly earnings (AWE) are calculated as non-seasonally adjusted AWE (shown in our accompanying EARN02: Average weekly earnings by sector dataset) divided by the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), which is our preferred measure of consumer price inflation (as shown in our CPIH Index time series L522). The ratio is then referenced as an index with 2015 equals 100, and seasonally adjusted.

We also publish our accompanying X09: Real average weekly earnings using consumer price inflation (CPI) dataset for the whole economy and for both total and regular pay. Our recommended measure of CPI is CPIH, and our headline estimates using this measure are found in our accompanying EARN01: Average weekly earnings dataset. These data have been compiled using the CPI as a supplementary dataset to view alongside the headline estimates produced using the CPIH.

Seasonal adjustment and revisions

Total pay, bonus pay and regular pay (excluding bonuses) for each sector (a total of 27 series) are seasonally adjusted using X13-ARIMA. Percentage changes are then derived from the seasonally adjusted average pay series.

Each of the 27 series is seasonally adjusted separately, to ensure the optimum seasonal adjustment of each series. The result of this is that relationships that hold in the unadjusted series do not necessarily hold for the seasonally adjusted series. For example, before seasonal adjustment, regular pay plus bonus pay equalled total pay, whereas after seasonal adjustment, they are not necessarily equal.

When there is an exceptionally large change in the series, this can lead to larger differences between regular pay plus bonus pay, and total pay. We saw this in March 2021 and 2020, when the bonus payments pattern changed during the pandemic. Consequently, the direct seasonal adjustment method, which allows for evolving seasonality, caused a larger than normal difference. This is supported by other similar instances, such as in January and February 2009.

Where one-off shocks are present in the data, these are accounted for during the seasonal adjustment process. This was applied in June 2023 to the public sector bonus payments.

In line with international guidance, we annually review the seasonal adjustment parameters and open up the whole time series for revision, as outlined in our Average weekly earnings quality and methodology information (QMI). This was last reviewed in September 2023 and led to revisions to the historical AWE time series, extending back throughout the time series.

Uncertainty

Sampling variability for average weekly earnings single-month growth rates in percentage points is also available in our Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: April 2021 bulletin.

More quality and methodology information

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Average weekly earnings QMI.

For more information about some of the main differences between our data sources, see ourComparison of labour market data sources methodology.

Information on the strengths and limitations of this bulletin is available in:

• our Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: April 2021 bulletin

• our Guide to labour market statistics methodology

• our Income and earnings statistics guide methodology

• the Government Statistical Service Income and earnings interactive dashboard

Accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in December 2014. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".