UK inflation: West Midlands wages fall as pay packets rise in London

People in the West Midlands saw their pay decrease by more than 2% after inflation in the three months to June 2022, as workers experienced significant real-terms salary cuts.

On Tuesday (16 August) the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released figures showing UK workers had experienced their sharpest pay slump since records began in 2001.

Wages excluding bonuses fell by 4.1% year on year during April to June, once the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation is taken into account.

A regional breakdown is not available for these exact figures. But separate regional figures published simultaneously by the ONS showing gross weekly earnings for full-time employees, and adjusted them for inflation in the same way using the CPI. The figures are self-reported earnings, based on a survey of workers. The analysis shows earnings across April to June were down by an average of 1.2% in real terms compared to a year earlier.

The average full-time worker reported having gross weekly earnings of £727 between April and June this year. Gross earnings means before any deductions are made, such as tax or national insurance. But a year earlier salaries were the equivalent of £736 in today’s prices. The figures represent mean rather than median earnings.

What do the figures show in the West Midlands?

Full-time workers in the West Midlands saw their average earnings fall from £675 per week (in 2022 prices) to £661, an decrease of 2.1%.

It was not an equal picture across the UK however, with London, Scotland and the South West all seeing year-on-year real-terms rises.

The map below shows the figures for every region.

What do the figures in other parts of the UK?

In Scotland they were up 1%, from £690 to £697, while in the South West they were up 2.8%, from £687 to £706.

The deepest pay decreases were felt in Northern Ireland, with earnings down by 8.3% from £640 to £587.

The regional ONS figures used by are less reliable than the national-level statistics, as they are based on a survey of employees rather than employers Workers are asked what they earned in the previous week, and some may include bonuses, while others may not.

Pay levels in the employee survey are also known to be an underestimate, the ONS said – although it does not suggest this affects some regions more than others.There are no other regional figures yet available for 2022, however.

On Wednesday (17 August) the ONS released the latest CPI figures, showing inflation rising to 10.1% in July compared to a year earlier.

In June inflation had stood at 9.4%.

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