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NI pay rises faster than inflation for third year in row

John CampbellEconomics and business editor, BBC News NI
News imageGetty Images UK British pounds notes and coins lying beside a black wallet. Getty Images
The 3.1% increase in NI was higher than the UK average of 2.8%

The typical worker in Northern Ireland saw their real weekly pay increase by more than 3% in the last year.

Real pay is the value of pay adjusted for inflation and is a guide to how living standards are changing.

The figures come from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) produced by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).

Nisra said that real pay has now risen for three consecutive years, more than offsetting the falls experienced in 2022 and 2023.

The 3.1% increase in NI was higher than the UK average of 2.8%.

The figures also suggest the typical full time worker in NI was earning £38,200 in 2026 compared £40,900 for the UK as a whole.

Real earnings increased more sharply in the private sector in 2026, rising by 3.7% compared to 1.9% in the public sector.

Compared with 2019, private sector real earnings are now 12.3% higher, while public sector earnings are 2.0% higher.

However typical public sector weekly earnings remain higher at £840 compared to £708 in the private sector.

Some of the differences between the public and private sector figures are due to differences in the composition of the respective workforces.

Many of the lowest-paid occupations, such as hospitality and retail, exist almost exclusively in the private sector, while in the public sector there is a larger proportion of graduate-level and professional occupations.

Employees working in Belfast had the highest typical weekly earnings in 2026 (£813), while those working in Causeway Coast & Glens had the lowest (£641).

Employees living in Lisburn & Castlereagh had the highest typical weekly earnings (£815), while those living in Causeway Coast & Glens had the lowest (£666).

Nisra said that between 2019 and 2026, all earnings rose in cash terms by 41.1% but real earnings only rose by 7.1%.

That illustrates the extent to which high inflation has been a major economic factor in this period.

The ASHE is a UK-wide survey of employers, based on a 1% sample of employee jobs. The data is drawn from HM Revenue and Customs' Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records.