United Kingdom · data to Aug 2026
Is pay keeping up?
OK.
Pay is only just keeping ahead of prices, by 0.6% a year after inflation.
For context: 0.6% is around the middle of all 306 figures since 2001.
Real pay growth
Annual growth in regular pay after inflation. Above zero means pay is beating prices.
The strip under the chart shows the verdict each period would get by today's rules:Good OK Bad
See the latest numbers
| Period | Value | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | 0.6% | OK |
| Jul 2026 | 0.6% | OK |
| Jun 2026 | 0.6% | OK |
| May 2026 | 0.3% | OK |
| Apr 2026 | 0.1% | OK |
| Mar 2026 | 0.1% | OK |
| Feb 2026 | 0.2% | OK |
| Jan 2026 | 0.4% | OK |
| Dec 2025 | 0.5% | OK |
| Nov 2025 | 0.6% | OK |
| Oct 2025 | 0.6% | OK |
| Sep 2025 | 0.5% | OK |
Source: ONS, Average Weekly Earnings, whole economy, regular pay, real terms, annual growth (three-month average, seasonally adjusted) · Series A2FA (LMS) · Latest Aug 2026
How we judged this
What we test: The latest figure (real pay growth). Right now that's 0.6%.
- Good if 1.0% or more
- OK if from 0.0% to under 1.0%applies now
- Bad if anything the rules above don’t cover
Rules are checked from the top. The first one that fits decides the verdict.
About this data
- Measure
- Real pay growth
- Latest
- 0.6% (Aug 2026)
- Published
- Monthly, by ONS
- Verdict counts for
- Equal weight with the others in the overall verdict
The ONS's own measure of real pay: average weekly regular pay (not counting bonuses), already adjusted for inflation by the ONS, over the latest three months compared with a year earlier.
An average can rise for the wrong reasons. In 2020 lower-paid jobs disappeared first, which pushed the average up even though few people got a pay rise.