Due to the coronavirus illness (COVID-19) we anticipate that there will be some changes in terms of our regular statistical production. See the COVID-19 and the production of statistics page for more information.
Latest results published 3rd November 2020
The key points from the Northern Ireland ASHE 2020 show that:
- Median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in April 2020 decreased by 1% from £535 in 2019 to £529 in 2020; the first annual decrease in weekly earnings since 2014 and the largest decrease on record.
- UK weekly earnings increased by 0.1% to £586. NI has the second lowest earnings of the UK regions, with weekly earnings £57 below the UK average.
- Real weekly earnings in NI decreased by 2.0% returning real earnings close to 2010 levels while real UK weekly earnings increased by 0.9% over the year.
- Median annual earnings increased by 3.2% for all full-time employees in NI over the year to £28,000, but remained lower than the UK median of £31,000. The highest 10% of earners earned approximately £52,000 and above.
Publications
Detailed Results
- Headline statistics for Northern Ireland
- Industry, occupation, age, public/private sector and skill level
- NI geographies, by place of work and place of residence
- Low pay analysis
- All tables in Open Document Spreadsheet (ODS) format
HMRC PAYE RTI earnings
Experimental monthly earnings from HMRC PAYE Real Time Information System was published on 23rd February 2021. The key points were:
- The number of employees receiving pay through HMRC PAYE in NI in December 2020 was 742,900, an increase of 0.3% over the month and a decrease 0.9% over the year. The flash estimate for January 2021 shows a further increase of 0.3% on December’s figure to 745,200.
- Earnings from the HMRC PAYE indicated that NI employees had a median monthly pay of £1,789 in December 2020, an increase of 0.7% over the month and 6.9% over the year. The flash estimate for January 2021 shows a decrease of 0.7% increase in earnings from December’s figure.
- Latest UK regional time series
Data Visualisation
- Earnings distribution chart
- Explanation of gender pay gap
- Why we use the median in earnings statistics
Pension Results
The next publication is planned for April 2021, however, given that there has been little feedback from users on this publication or related data requests, it may be suspended this year. Please let us know if you use the publication or data. Users will be updated as soon as more information is available.
The provisional results from the pensions element of the Northern Ireland ASHE 2019 were published on 4th March 2020.
ASHE interactive maps
Click here for interactive earnings map

Geographically data refers to place of work.
NI ASHE Background Information
- Background to the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
- Advice for completing the ASHE 2020 survey for businesses affected by COVID-19
- ONS quality and methodology for ASHE
Mailing list
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