Labour market earnings of young people

Published: 11 September 2024
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Data on median hourly pay for 22 to 29 year olds in the UK.

  1. Summary main findings
  2. By year
  3. About the data
  4. Download the data

Summary main findings

Real hourly pay fell markedly after the 2008 financial crisis. It recovered slowly to pre-crisis levels in 2021, and has increased slightly again.

After accounting for inflation, median hourly pay fell slightly from its peak of £13.58 in 2021 to £13.32 in 2022. It recovered to £13.46 in 2023.

By year

Visualisation

Median real hourly pay of 22 to 29 year olds, over time (UK, 1997 to 2023)

Data

Median real hourly pay of 22 to 29 year olds, over time (UK, 1997 to 2023)
Year Median hourly pay (£)
2023 13.46
2022 13.32
2021 13.58
2020 13.57
2019 13.28
2018 12.87
2017 12.64
2016 12.59
2015 12.16
2014 11.98
2013 12.05
2012 12.05
2011 12.19
2010 12.93
2009 13.39
2008 13.32
2007 13.42
2006 13.32
2005 13.25
2004 13.26
2003 13.15
2002 13.04
2001 12.71
2000 12.25
1999 11.90
1998 11.59
1997 11.33
  • Download the data (CSV, 490B)

    • Download

    For the full download file, see Download the data.

    About the data

    Data source(s)

    Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

    Time period

    1997 to 2023

    Geographic area

    UK

    What the data measures

    The data shows median real hourly pay for 22 to 29 year olds in the UK.

    ‘Real’ hourly pay means that earnings are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, with a base year of 2022.

    The median is the middle point of a range of numbers which are arranged in order. Using the median prevents very high and very low values from distorting the figures.

    Things you need to know

    The data does not include self-employed people or employees who were not paid during the survey period.

    The data is not comparable to the data in last year’s report. This is due to an update in the inflation adjustment methodology.

    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, 5KB)

    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

    Editions of this page:

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