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Are UK wages rising faster than prices? What the ONS earnings figures show
Average regular pay was 3.7% higher in June to August 2026 than a year earlier, but 0.6% after inflation. Between 2008 and 2025, it rose by 68% in cash terms, but only 4.9% after inflation.
At a glance
Average regular pay in Great Britain was 3.7% higher in June to August 2026 than a year earlier, the ONS's latest figures show, and total pay including bonuses 3.7% higher. Prices rose almost as fast: after inflation, regular pay grew 0.6% and total pay 0.7%.
Over the longer run the gap is wide. Average regular pay was £679 a week in 2025, against £405 in 2008: 68% more in cash, but only 4.9% more after inflation. Pay after inflation did not get back to its 2008 level until 2019.
Key figures
- 3.7%Average regular pay (excluding bonuses), growth on a year earlier. Great Britain, employees, cash termsJune to August 2026, against a year earlier · Estimate · Source [1]
- 0.6%Regular pay growth after inflation (CPIH)June to August 2026, against a year earlier · Estimate · Source [1]
- 3.7%Average total pay (including bonuses), growth on a year earlier. Great Britain, employees, cash termsJune to August 2026, against a year earlier · Estimate · Source [1]
- 0.7%Total pay growth after inflation (CPIH)June to August 2026, against a year earlier · Estimate · Source [1]
- 68%Rise in average regular pay from 2008 to 2025, cash terms2008 to 2025 · PayCalc calculation · Source [2]
- 4.9%Rise in average regular pay from 2008 to 2025, after inflation2008 to 2025 · PayCalc calculation · Source [3]
Pay against prices now
In June to August 2026, average regular pay, which leaves out bonuses, was 3.7% higher than a year earlier, and total pay 3.7% higher. After inflation measured by CPIH, the ONS's lead measure, regular pay grew 0.6% and total pay 0.7%. Measured by CPI, which leaves out owner occupiers' housing costs, the rises were 0.8% and 0.9%.
So pay is still rising a little faster than prices, but most of the cash rise goes on keeping up with them. The ONS's figures are before tax and National Insurance.
Regular pay grew 6.3% in the public sector and 3.0% in the private sector. The ONS notes that public sector growth is affected by when pay awards were paid this year.
Pay against prices since 2008
In cash terms, average regular pay has risen every year, from £405 a week in 2008 to £679 in 2025 and £707 in August 2026. After inflation, the picture is flat for most of that time:
- from £470 a week in 2008, in 2015 prices, it fell to £445 in 2014;
- it was back at £470 only in 2019, eleven years later;
- when inflation rose in 2022 it fell again, to £472 in October 2022, about where it was in February 2008 (£473);
- in June 2026 it reached £497, the highest since the series began in 2000. It then eased to £494 in August 2026.
The jump in 2020 and 2021 is partly an effect of who was still in work. More lower-paid jobs were lost in the pandemic, which lifted the average: in March 2021 the ONS put the effect at about 1.6%.
Annual averages of the ONS's seasonally adjusted series A2FC, adjusted for inflation with CPIH. Bars start at zero. Source: ONS, Average weekly earnings (20 October 2026).
| Year | In cash terms | After inflation (2015 prices) |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | £405 | £470 |
| 2009 | £412 | £469 |
| 2010 | £420 | £466 |
| 2011 | £428 | £458 |
| 2012 | £434 | £453 |
| 2013 | £438 | £447 |
| 2014 | £442 | £445 |
| 2015 | £453 | £454 |
| 2016 | £464 | £460 |
| 2017 | £473 | £458 |
| 2018 | £488 | £462 |
| 2019 | £505 | £470 |
| 2020 | £516 | £475 |
| 2021 | £543 | £487 |
| 2022 | £573 | £477 |
| 2023 | £613 | £478 |
| 2024 | £648 | £489 |
| 2025 | £679 | £493 |
What these figures can't tell you
- They are an average of everyone. The figures are means: total pay divided by the number of employees. That is not the pay of a typical employee, and it also moves when the mix of jobs changes.
- They are employees in Great Britain. The self-employed are not counted, and nor is Northern Ireland.
- They are before tax. What you take home also depends on Income Tax and National Insurance. With the tax thresholds frozen, more of each pay rise is taxed: our article on fiscal drag explains how.
- The latest months are provisional. The ONS revises the series, and its next figures come out on 17 November 2026.
What this means for you
- Compare your own pay rise with inflation over the same twelve months. If your pay went up by less than prices, it has fallen in real terms, whatever the average did.
- Look at what reaches your bank, not just your salary: our take-home pay calculator shows your pay after tax, National Insurance and pension, and the payslip checker checks the deductions on a payslip.
See what a pay rise is worth to you after tax and National Insurance.
Sources and method
All figures come from the ONS release Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: October 2026, published on 20 October 2026, and from two of its time series as published that day: KAI7 (average regular pay) and A2FC (the same after inflation). Average weekly earnings come from a monthly survey of businesses covering employees in Great Britain. They leave out the self-employed.
The figures are means: the ONS divides total pay by the number of employees. A mean is not the pay of a typical employee, and it moves when the mix of jobs changes as well as when pay does. Regular pay leaves out bonuses and arrears; total pay includes bonuses. All of it is before tax and National Insurance.
Growth rates compare the latest three months, June to August 2026, with the same months a year earlier, as the ONS publishes them. The latest months are provisional, and the ONS revises the series.
After inflation: the ONS divides average weekly earnings by the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), its lead measure of inflation, referenced to 2015 = 100, and seasonally adjusts the result. So the pound figures after inflation are in 2015 prices. The ONS also gives growth after CPI inflation, shown alongside.
Our calculations: the rises from 2008 to 2025 compare the ONS's annual averages for those two years, as published in whole pounds: £679 ÷ £405 − 1 in cash terms and £493 ÷ £470 − 1 after inflation. Unrounded data could move them slightly.
In 2020 and 2021 the average was pushed up because more lower-paid jobs were lost: in March 2021 the ONS estimated that this had raised average pay by about 1.6%. Read those two years with that in mind.
- Office for National Statistics, Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: October 2026 ↗, Main points; Data sources and quality (real earnings, coverage). Published 20 October 2026. Accessed 7 November 2026.
- Office for National Statistics, AWE: Whole Economy Level (£): Seasonally Adjusted Regular Pay Excluding Arrears (KAI7) ↗. Published 20 October 2026. Accessed 7 November 2026.
- Office for National Statistics, AWE: Whole Economy Real Terms Level (£): Seasonally Adjusted Regular Pay (A2FC) ↗. Published 20 October 2026. Accessed 7 November 2026.
- Office for National Statistics, Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: March 2021 ↗, Main points (compositional effects). Published 23 March 2021. Accessed 7 November 2026.
This article is general information, not financial advice. Check your own position before you act.