UK wage gap widens. Get data for the past 25 years

How have wages changed over the past 25 years? How wide is the pay gap between the top 1% and the lowest earners? See how wages have changed over time• Download the data• More data journalism and data visualisations from the GuardianAfter taking into account price rises using the Consumer Prices Index, the ONS state that the average full-time employee earned 62% more in 2011 than in 1986. Growing inequalities between the highest earners and the lowest have also been highlighted by the release. Mark King writes: In April 2011, the top 1% of earners in the UK received an average £61.10 an hour – or £135,666 a year – based on the average number of hours worked by full-time employees in the UK, compared to £28.18 an hour in 1986, a rise of 117% in real terms.Over the same 25-year period the lowest-paid 10% of workers saw their wages increase by just 47% to an average of £7.01 an hour, or £15,565 a year. However, the ONS said the introduction of the minimum wage in April 1999 had propped up the pay of the bottom 1% of earners, who experienced a 70% increase to £5.93 an hour over 25 years.In April 2011 the average full-time employee in the UK earned around £12.62 per hour excluding overtime - this is an increase of 226% since 1986 when the average pay was £3.87 per hour. According to the ONS, pay of the highest paid employees has more than doubled in real terms since 1986. Using the Consumer Prices Index, the ONS are able to take into account rising prices. So for example something that cost £1 in 1986 now costs £2.01. So what does this latest release show?Wage inequality is highest in LondonComparing the 99th percentile (lowest earners) with the first percentile (highest earners) across UK regions, the ONS found London to be the place where wage inequality is highest. London's highest earners had 16.2 times higher pay than the lowest earners. Wales had the smallest gap with the highest earners earning seven times more than the lowest earners.Pilots and flight engineers get paid the mostAircraft pilots and flight engineers received the highest median hourly pay in 2011 at £44.49 per hour. At £39.24, chief executives and senior officials came second. Advertising and PR directors and marketing and sales directors also featured high on the list.Waiters and waitresses and bar staff recorded the lowest pay with a median hourly pay of £6.25. Kitchen and catering assistants received £6.30 per hour and Vehicle valeters and cleaners got a median hourly wage of £6.39 in 2011.Office for National StatisticsLiving wagePayWork & careersAmi SedghiJohn Burn-Murdochguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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