Statistical Press Release - Results from the 2016 Northern Ireland Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

Date published: 26 October 2016

Provisional results from the 2016 Northern Ireland Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) were published today by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). The key findings are that:

Statistical Press Release - Results from the 2016 Northern Ireland Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
Statistical Press Release - Results from the 2016 Northern Ireland Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

Weekly earnings:

  • In April 2016, median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were £495, up 2.2% from £485 in 2015. This increase was the same as that of UK employees and the second consecutive annual increase in inflation adjusted earnings.
  • In the UK, median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were £539, an increase of 2.2% since 2015 (£527). At 91.9%, the ratio of NI to UK full-time weekly earnings is down slightly on the 2015 ratio (92.0%).
  • The increase in median gross weekly earnings was more marked in the public sector than in the private sector. The full-time median gross weekly earnings in the private sector increased by 1.9% to £435, compared to a 3.9% increase in the public sector, to £619.
  • Those in the lowest 10% of the full-time weekly earnings distribution experienced a larger increase (4.7%) than those in the highest 10% (2.9%).

Hourly earnings:

  • Full-time median hourly earnings excluding overtime were £12.22 in NI compared to £13.59 in the UK at April 2016. Full-time hourly earnings excluding overtime increased by 2.1% in NI, (compared to 2.3% growth in the UK) between April 2015 and April 2016.

Part-time earnings:

  • The median gross weekly part-time earnings in Northern Ireland at April 2016 were £172, which was 3.2% lower than the figure in the UK.
  • In the private sector, median gross weekly part-time earnings in Northern Ireland were £154, which was 2.4% lower than the figure in the UK (£158).

All employees:

  • Over the year to April 2016, NI median gross weekly earnings for all employees increased by 2.9%, compared with growth of 3.2% in the UK.
  • Median gross weekly earnings for all employees in Northern Ireland at April 2016 were £393, or 90% of the UK figure (£439). This gap partly reflects differences in the composition and changing structures of the respective workforces, by full-/part-time status, gender, industry and occupation structure.

National Minimum Wage:

  • The National Living Wage (NLW) for 2016 was £7.20 per hour for employees aged 25 and over and National Minimum Wage (NMW) was £6.70 per hour for employees aged 21 to 24. In NI, the percentage of jobs that were paid below the NWM and NLW was unable to be estimated due to the large coefficient of variance, however in UK it was 1.3%.

Annual earnings:

  • In 2016, median gross annual[1] earnings for full-time employees in NI were £26,100, an increase of 1.4% over the year. This was lower than the UK annual earnings of £28,200 (an increase of 2.2% since 2015).

Gender pay gap:

  • At April 2016, female earnings were 103.2% of male earnings in NI, compared with 90.5% in the UK. Female median hourly earnings excluding overtime for NI full-time employees first reached parity with male earnings in 2010. Since 2010, female and male earnings have been similar, with female median hourly earnings exceeding that for males from 2013. This is largely driven by the public sector. NI full-time female private sector hourly earnings were 83.1% of their counterparts in the UK.

Earnings by industry sector:

  • Over the year to 2016, median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees increased in 11 of the 17 industry sectors reported in ASHE[2], with education reporting the highest earnings at £711 per week. Earnings were lowest in the accommodation and food service activities section (£300). The largest percentage increases were reported in Human health and social work activities (11.7%), Financial and insurance activities (10.1%), Real estate activities (5.7%), Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (5.6%), and Professional, scientific and technical activities (4.7%). Together, these five industries accounted for over one-third of employee jobs.

[1] Annual earnings for employees who had been in the same job for at least 12 months. 

[2] Estimates were not published for four of the 21 industry sectors due to small sample sizes in those sectors. 

Notes to editors: 

  1. The ASHE is a UK wide survey of employers based on a 1% sample of employee jobs. This is drawn from HM Revenue and Customs Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. ASHE collects information on the levels, distribution and make-up of earnings and hours paid. Results are produced for various industrial, occupational and geographic breakdowns, as well as by public and private sectors and age groups.
  2. ASHE data are used by those who have an interest in NI economic and labour market policy. The figures are widely used to chart changes in NI earnings levels over time and relative to the rest of the UK. The NI Assembly and Government Departments require a variety of indicators, which measure the state of the labour market, including earnings across industries and occupations as well as for the public and private sector.
  3. The mean and the median measure different things and either can be appropriate depending on what the user is trying to measure. The mean measures the average amount earned by individuals, but in a skew distribution such as earnings this measure is susceptible to small numbers of very high earners. The median measures the amount earned by the average individual, i.e. the level of earnings above which half the population fall. Please note that changes in median values for sub sectors of the population are not necessarily additive at the population level.
  4. The detailed statistical bulletin and tables are available at the NISRA website
  5. For media enquiries, please contact DfE Press Office on 028 9052 9604. Outside office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07623 974383 and your call will be returned.
  6. Feedback is welcomed and should be addressed to: Responsible statistician:Brian Grogan,Economic & Labour Market Statistics Branch (ELMS),brian.grogan@finance-ni.gov.uk or Tel: 028 9052 9311.
  7. Follow ELMS on Twitter - @ELMSNISRA

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