Is pay keeping up with prices?
Over the long run it has, but slowly. Between 2002 and 2025, typical full-time pay rose 96% in cash terms while prices rose 86%, so pay is about 6% higher after allowing for prices.
Typical full-time weekly pay in cash terms (ONS ASHE median).
Consumer Prices Index, annual averages.
Pay after allowing for prices, over the same years.
Pay and prices over time
What’s this?
The same pay series, with earlier years scaled up by price rises so that every year is shown in 2025 money. It shows whether pay has risen faster than prices.
What it cannot tell you: It uses one price index for everyone, but people's own cost of living differs. It is still before tax.
What’s this?
The middle weekly pay, before tax, of people working full time: half earn more, half earn less. Cash terms, not adjusted for prices.
What it cannot tell you: It is the middle of people working full time, so it leaves out part-time workers and people without a job. It is before tax and not adjusted for prices.
What’s this?
How much prices rose over the previous twelve months, measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). A rate above zero means prices are rising.
What it cannot tell you: It is an average. Your own prices may have risen faster or slower, for example if you rent or drive a lot.
Year by year
Typical full-time pay against prices for the last ten years. “Real change” is pay growth after allowing for rising prices; a minus sign means pay lost ground. Try your own amount →
| Year | Weekly pay | Pay change | Price change | Real change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | £767 | +5.3% | +3.4% | +1.8% |
| 2024 | £728 | +6.0% | +2.5% | +3.4% |
| 2023 | £687 | +7.0% | +7.3% | -0.2% |
| 2022 | £642 | +5.2% | +9.1% | -3.5% |
| 2021 | £610 | +4.1% | +2.6% | +1.5% |
| 2020 | £586 | +0.1% | +0.9% | -0.8% |
| 2019 | £585 | +3.0% | +1.8% | +1.2% |
| 2018 | £568 | +3.3% | +2.5% | +0.8% |
| 2017 | £550 | +2.1% | +2.7% | -0.6% |
| 2016 | £539 | +2.2% | +0.6% | +1.5% |
Questions people ask
Is pay keeping up with inflation?
Between 2002 and 2025, pay rose 96% and prices 86%, so pay is about 6% higher in real terms. In 2025, pay rose 5.3% and prices 3.4%.
What is real pay?
Real pay is pay after taking out the effect of rising prices. If pay rises 4% and prices rise 3%, real pay rises about 1%.
Has pay ever fallen in real terms?
In some years, yes. See the table: a minus sign in the last column means pay lost ground against prices that year.
What pay figure is used?
The ONS median for full-time employees from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. It does not cover part-time workers or the self-employed.
What is inflation now?
The latest yearly rate is on the inflation page, which updates when the ONS publishes.
Sources: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (via Nomis) and Consumer Prices Index, to 2025. Updated every night.
See also: Inflation · Average UK salary · What was my money worth? · Everything over time