Employee Earnings in Northern Ireland: October 2025

Date published: 23 October 2025

Weekly earnings increased over the year

1. In NI, median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees ("weekly earnings") in April 2025 were Pound 713, an increase of 7.4% from Pound 664 in 2024. This is the second largest annual increase on record and the fifth consecutive annual increase.
2. In the UK, weekly earnings were Pound 767 in April 2025, an increase of 5.3% from 2024 (Pound 728). This is the third largest annual increase on record and follows the second largest increase of 6.0% in 2024.
3. Since 2021, earnings growth in NI has accelerated significantly. While the average annual increase between 2005 and 2020 was around 2%, this has nearly tripled to approximately 6% per year between 2021 and 2025. This trend broadly mirrors the pattern observed across the UK.
4. Real weekly earnings (that is, adjusted for inflation) in NI increased by 3.1% in 2025, up from a 0.9% rise in 2024. This follows declines of 0.7% in 2023 and 3.7% in 2022, the largest annual drop on record. After two years of growth, which have offset the previous two years of similar sized declines, real earnings are now close to their inflation adjusted 2021 level of Pound 717.
5. For the UK as a whole, real weekly earnings increased by 1.1% over the year.
6. Of the 12 UK regions, NI experienced the largest increase in weekly earnings over the year, and is now the fifth lowest earning region, with London (Pound 958) highest and the North East (Pound 681) lowest.

Public sector pay growing faster than private sector pay

1. Over the past year, many large public sector organisations have agreed backdated multi-year pay settlements, leading to a significant 9.3% rise in public sector earnings in 2025 following two years of zero growth. Private sector earnings rose by 5.4%, continuing the strong upward trend seen since 2021.
2. Real earnings in the public sector rose by 4.9% in the year to 2025, outpacing the 1.2% increase seen in the private sector.
3. Compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, public sector real earnings are up just 0.1%, while private sector earnings have grown by 8.8%.

Proportion of low-paid jobs in NI the lowest on record

1. Approximately 3.4% of all jobs in NI were classed as 'low-paid'. Although this was a record low in NI, it was the second highest proportion of the 12 UK regions, exceeded only by the North East (3.7%).
2. The proportion of jobs paid below the National Living Wage (NLW) or National Minimum Wage (NMW) fell to 0.9% in 2025. This is slightly lower than both the 2024 rate (1.6%) and the pre-COVID level in 2019 (1.1%). It remains significantly below the peaks seen in 2020 (11%) and 2021 (5.8%), when around 90% of those earning below the NLW/NMW were on furlough.

Gender pay gap in NI in favour of males

1. In 2025, the gender pay gap in NI stood at 7.2% in favour of men when considering all employees, regardless of working pattern, meaning that for every Pound 1 earned by men, women earned 93p. This gap has decreased marginally from 7.9% in 2024.
2. In comparison, females in the UK earned around 13% less than males on average in 2025. The gender pay gap has halved in both regions over the last two decades.

Annual earnings in NI lower than in the UK

1. Median annual earnings for full-time employees in NI were Pound 37,100 in 2025, almost Pound 2,000 lower than the UK median of Pound 39,000. The highest 10% of full-time earners in NI earned at least Pound 67,500.