Wage gap by age — Senior to prime-age wage gap in United Kingdom
United Kingdom: Wage gap by age — Senior to prime-age wage gap was 2.48 Percentage of prime-age employees wage in 2021. ▼ Falling
Latest (2021)
2.48 Percentage of prime-age employees wage
Change on year
up 1.6%
World rank
8th
of 36 countries
All-time high
9.04 Percentage of prime-age employees wage
in 1990
All-time low
0.2054 Percentage of prime-age employees wage
in 2015
Years of data
45
1976–2021
Wage gap by age — Senior to prime-age wage gap in United Kingdom, 1976–2021
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of prime-age employees wage.
Analysis
In 2021, wage gap by age — senior to prime-age wage gap in United Kingdom stood at 2.48 Percentage of prime-age employees wage.
That represents a change of up 1.6% on the previous year and up 0.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, wage gap by age — senior to prime-age wage gap in United Kingdom peaked at 9.04 Percentage of prime-age employees wage in 1990 and was at its lowest, 0.2054 Percentage of prime-age employees wage, in 2015.
That places United Kingdom 8th out of 36 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 45 years of available data.
Wage gap by age — Senior to prime-age wage gap in United Kingdom, year by year
| Year | Percentage of prime-age employees wage | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 6.33 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | — |
| 1977 | 7.15 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +12.9% |
| 1978 | 7.1 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -0.7% |
| 1979 | 6.87 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -3.2% |
| 1980 | 5.64 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -17.9% |
| 1981 | 5.79 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +2.7% |
| 1982 | 5.45 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -5.9% |
| 1983 | 5.79 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +6.3% |
| 1984 | 5.82 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +0.5% |
| 1985 | 6.15 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +5.8% |
| 1986 | 6.47 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +5.1% |
| 1987 | 6.39 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -1.1% |
| 1988 | 7.43 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +16.2% |
| 1989 | 7.56 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +1.8% |
| 1990 | 9.04 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +19.5% |
| 1991 | 8.52 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -5.7% |
| 1992 | 8.71 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +2.3% |
| 1993 | 8.81 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +1.2% |
| 1994 | 8.15 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -7.5% |
| 1996 | 7.61 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -6.7% |
| 1997 | 6.64 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -12.7% |
| 1998 | 7.86 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +18.4% |
| 1999 | 6.78 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -13.7% |
| 2000 | 7.9 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +16.5% |
| 2001 | 8.08 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +2.2% |
| 2002 | 8.32 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +3.0% |
| 2003 | 8.83 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +6.2% |
| 2004 | 7.38 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -16.4% |
| 2005 | 6.78 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -8.1% |
| 2006 | 4.7 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -30.7% |
| 2007 | 5.4 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +14.8% |
| 2008 | 5.66 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +4.8% |
| 2009 | 3.61 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -36.2% |
| 2010 | 2.74 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -24.1% |
| 2011 | 2.46 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -10.2% |
| 2012 | 1.85 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -24.7% |
| 2013 | 0.6236 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -66.3% |
| 2014 | 0.7629 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +22.3% |
| 2015 | 0.2054 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -73.1% |
| 2016 | 0.8316 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +305.0% |
| 2017 | 0.5501 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -33.9% |
| 2018 | 1.9 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +245.1% |
| 2019 | 0.8022 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | -57.7% |
| 2020 | 2.45 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +204.8% |
| 2021 | 2.48 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | +1.6% |
United Kingdom compared with similar countries
- United Kingdom's 2.48 Percentage of prime-age employees wage is above the median for high income countries, which is -5.41 Percentage of prime-age employees wage. (31 countries reporting)
- United Kingdom's 2.48 Percentage of prime-age employees wage is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is -9.19 Percentage of prime-age employees wage. (22 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Wage gap by age — Senior to prime-age wage gap in United Kingdom changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | +305.0% | 0.2054 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 0.8316 Percentage of prime-age employees wage |
| 2018 | +245.1% | 0.5501 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 1.9 Percentage of prime-age employees wage |
| 2020 | +204.8% | 0.8022 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2.45 Percentage of prime-age employees wage |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6.86 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 6.33 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 7.15 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 4 |
| 1980s | 6.25 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 5.45 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 7.56 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 10 |
| 1990s | 8.01 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 6.64 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 9.04 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 9 |
| 2000s | 6.67 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 3.61 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 8.83 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.27 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 0.2054 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2.74 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.46 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2.45 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2.48 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom
- 5 Hungary 6.57 Percentage of prime-age employees wage compare
- 5 Slovenia -11.66 Percentage of prime-age employees wage compare
- 6 Mexico 5.94 Percentage of prime-age employees wage compare
- 6 Netherlands -14.95 Percentage of prime-age employees wage compare
- 7 Malta 4.37 Percentage of prime-age employees wage compare
- 9 Canada 0.109 Percentage of prime-age employees wage compare
- 10 United States -1.19 Percentage of prime-age employees wage compare
- 11 Romania -2.84 Percentage of prime-age employees wage compare
More work & labour data for United Kingdom
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 22,956 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 60.91 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 35,770 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 4.93 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 1.07 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 111,361 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 100,223 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 57.91 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 1.47 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.4352 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is wage gap by age — senior to prime-age wage gap in United Kingdom?
- Wage gap by age — senior to prime-age wage gap in United Kingdom was 2.48 Percentage of prime-age employees wage in 2021, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest wage gap by age — senior to prime-age wage gap recorded in United Kingdom?
- The highest recorded value was 9.04 Percentage of prime-age employees wage in 1990.
- What is the lowest wage gap by age — senior to prime-age wage gap recorded in United Kingdom?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2054 Percentage of prime-age employees wage in 2015.
- How does United Kingdom rank for wage gap by age — senior to prime-age wage gap?
- United Kingdom ranks 8th out of 36 countries with data for 2021.
- Is wage gap by age — senior to prime-age wage gap rising or falling in United Kingdom?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United Kingdom data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Wage gap by age — Senior to prime-age wage gap. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 45 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
This dataset contains age wage gaps defined as the difference between mean (median) earnings of 25-54 year-olds and that of 15-24 year-olds (respectively 55-64 year-olds) relative to mean (median) earnings of 25-54 year-olds. Earnings refer to gross earnings of full-time dependent employees unless otherwise indicated.