Salaries are up in the UK, but falling short of inflation

AVERAGE SALARIES BEFORE TAX, BY REGIONS, 2022

AVERAGE salaries have increased across the UK, but they’re failing to keep up with inflation. Full-time employees earn an average of £33,000 before tax in the UK in 2022, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. That’s an increase of 5.7% compared to 2021.

However, separate figures show that inflation is at 10.1%, meaning that wages have actually shrunk in real terms.

Workers in Blackpool earn less than people anywhere else in the country.

The average full-time worker in the seaside town earns £24,571 a year.

That’s actually an 8.4% increase on the previous year. While it’s above the national average, it’s still behind inflation.

Boston in the East Midlands, meanwhile, has an average salary of £25,819, the next lowest of any local authority in the country, which works out as a 5.0% increase.

That’s followed by Pendle (£25,828), Kingston upon Hull (£26,409), Redditch (£26,851), Ryedale (£26,923) and Nottingham (£27,016).

At the other end of the scale is the London borough of Wandsworth.

The average full-time worker there takes home £47,901 a year before tax.

St Albans has the next highest average at £46,551, followed by

Richmond upon Thames (£45,448), East Hertfordshire (£45,355) and Westminster (£44,964).

The average London worker earns more than their equivalent in any other part of the country.

The average salary in the capital, before tax, is £39,391 a year.

In the South East it’s £35,658 a year.

In the East of England it stands at £34,347, and in the South West it’s £31,726.

Average workers in the West Midlands earn £31,399 a year, and in the East Midlands £30,900 a year.

In Yorkshire and The Humber , however, the average salary is £30,501 a year.

In the North West it’s £30,822, and in the North East it falls as low as £29,764.

People in Wales fare better at £30,821 a year, while the average full-time worker in Scotland gets £33,311 a year.

Not all local authorities have seen an increase in earnings.

The average salary in Kensington and Chelsea has actually fallen by a massive 19.0% according to the ONS figures to £40,868 a year.

In Barrow-in-Furness, the average has fallen by 11.7% to £30,513 a year.

The largest increase, meanwhile, was in Orkney Islands, with salaries going up by 34.0% to £36,132.

In Forest of Dean they rose by 32.8% to 39,132 a year.