LONDON, Oct. 22 — UK full-time employees’ median weekly pay outpaced inflation in the year to April, while part-time earnings fell in real terms, according to data released Thursday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The full-time median reached £811.20 in April 2026, up from £766.60 a year earlier. That was a 5.8% increase before inflation and 2.7% after adjustment for the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH). Part-time median pay rose 2.9% before inflation but slipped 0.1% after the adjustment.
Across all employee jobs, median weekly pay increased 4.9%. Part-time jobs made up 29.0% of the total, compared with 27.0% a year earlier. ONS said the higher share of part-time jobs and fewer average hours among part-time employees partly contributed to the smaller increase across all jobs.
For full-time employees who had been in their jobs for at least a year, median gross annual earnings rose 4.5% to £40,911 from £39,157. Reuters reported that this was the smallest increase since 2021; ONS reported the earnings figure but did not make that historical comparison.
Pay growth varied by region. Full-time median weekly earnings rose 8.2% in London, the fastest increase among UK regions. ONS linked part of the rise to an increase in professional jobs and said workforce and survey-sample changes can affect year-to-year estimates.
The full-time gender pay gap narrowed to 6.8% from 7.2%. ONS calculates it using median hourly earnings, excluding overtime, across men’s and women’s jobs; it does not compare pay for employees in the same roles. Jobs with hourly pay below two-thirds of the median accounted for 2.8% of all jobs, up from 2.6%. ONS estimated 346,000 jobs were paid below National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage rates, but said the estimate does not establish legal noncompliance.
The provisional results draw on employer information for a 1% employee sample selected through HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. The 2026 survey included 197,000 employee records, a record high, and covered pay periods including April 22. Final results are due in October 2027; ONS has not announced the next ASHE publication date.
