Employee earnings in Northern Ireland 2024

Employee Earnings in Northern Ireland, from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024, was published today. The report provides provisional estimates for 2024 and final revised estimates for 2023.

• Employee earnings in NI 2024 publication

ASHE data is now available on the new NISRA Data Portal, allowing users to build their own bespoke tables and 2024 ASHE headline results are summarised in charts and maps in the new ASHE Dashboard.

• NISRA Data Portal
• ASHE Dashboard

Weekly earnings increased over the year

1. Median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in April 2024 increased by 4.3% from £639 in 2023 to £666 in 2024. This is higher than the average annual change over the last twenty years.
2. UK weekly earnings increased by 6.0% to £728 in April 2024, the second largest annual increase on record, following the largest increase of 7.0% in 2023.
3. NI had the joint lowest increase in earnings across the 12 UK regions over the year and now ranks third lowest of the regions, with weekly earnings more than £60 below the UK average in 2024.
4. In real terms (that is, adjusted for inflation) weekly earnings in NI increased by 1.2% over the year to April 2024, following two years of real terms decreases. Real weekly earnings in the UK saw a larger increase over the year (2.9%) than NI.

Private sector pay grows faster than public sector pay

5. Increases in weekly earnings were recorded for both the public and the private sectors (0.1% and 6.7% respectively) over the year. The larger growth in the private sector has led to the smallest percentage difference in 20 years between the two sectors in NI (approximately 15%), as well as between NI and UK earnings in the private sector (11%) over the same period.

6. Over the year to 2024, real earnings in the public sector fell by 2.8%, which was in contrast to an increase of 3.5% in the private sector. Over the longer term, real earnings in the public sector are now 8.2% below 2004 levels, compared to a growth of 13% in real earnings in the private sector since 2004.
7. It should be noted that public sector pay awards were made following the ASHE reference date and are therefore not included in the 2024 results.

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

8. Under 5% of all jobs in NI were ‘low-paid’ (based on OECD measure of low pay) in 2024. This is the lowest proportion in NI in 20 years but is the highest proportion of the 12 UK regions.
9. The proportion of jobs paid below the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) was 1.5% in 2024. This is similar to last year (1.3%) and pre-COVID levels (1.1% in 2019) and is well below the 2020 and 2021 rates (11% and 5.8%), where 90% of those below these rates were on furlough.

Gender pay gap in favour of males in NI

10. The gender pay gap for all employees (regardless of working pattern) in NI is in favour of males. Median hourly earnings (excluding overtime) for females (£14.50) was 7.3% below those for males (£15.64). This is similar to the 2022 and 2023 gender pay gaps (both 7.5%) and is lower than rates prior to 2020. The gender pay gap in NI is smaller than the gap recorded in the UK (13% in 2024).

Annual earnings in NI are lower than in the UK

11. Median annual earnings for full-time employees in NI were £34,400 in 2024, £3,000 lower than the UK median of £37,400. The highest 10% of earners in NI earned at least £60,000.

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