Distribution of earnings
Published:
11 September 2024
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Data on inequality in hourly pay between high earners and low earners.
Summary main findings
The gap in hourly pay between ‘high earners’ (people in the 90th percentile for hourly pay) and ‘low earners’ (people in the 10th percentile) narrowed between 2010 and 2023.
Between 1997 and 2011, high earners earned around 4 times as much as low earners.
In 2023, high earners earned 3 times as much as low earners.
By year
Visualisation
Hourly earnings ratio of people in the 90th and 10th percentiles, over time (UK, 1997 to 2023)
Data
| Year | Ratio of earnings |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 3.03 |
| 2022 | 3.10 |
| 2021 | 3.27 |
| 2020 | 3.41 |
| 2019 | 3.46 |
| 2018 | 3.54 |
| 2017 | 3.57 |
| 2016 | 3.62 |
| 2015 | 3.73 |
| 2014 | 3.82 |
| 2013 | 3.86 |
| 2012 | 3.86 |
| 2011 | 3.96 |
| 2010 | 3.96 |
| 2009 | 3.95 |
| 2008 | 3.95 |
| 2007 | 3.93 |
| 2006 | 3.97 |
| 2005 | 4.00 |
| 2004 | 3.96 |
| 2003 | 3.98 |
| 2002 | 4.02 |
| 2001 | 4.03 |
| 2000 | 3.96 |
| 1999 | 3.99 |
| 1998 | 3.99 |
| 1997 | 4.01 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)
Time period
1997 to 2023
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data measures the gap in hourly earnings between people at the:
- 90th percentile (‘high earners’) – they earn more than 90% of people
- 10th percentile (‘low earners’) – they earn less than 90% of people
The ‘90:10 ratio’ is calculated as income at the 90th percentile divided by income at the 10th percentile. For example, a ratio of 2 means that people at the 90th percentile earn twice as much as people at the 10th percentile.
Things you need to know
This data uses the ‘90:10 ratio’ rather than the Gini coefficient (a commonly-used measure of income inequality). This is for ease of understanding.
Data for 2023 is provisional and may be revised in the future.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2024 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 4KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area type
- Area code
- Area name
- Time period
- Socio-economic background
- Sex
- Category type
- Value
- Unit
Page history
Publication release date:
11 September 2024