Retail pay growth accelerates faster than UK overall

Data from the Office of National Statistics’ Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings shows that retail pay growth has risen quicker than the UK overall.

The retail hourly pay was £9.30 in April 2019 compared to £13.21 for the UK overall. This equates to a 5.7% annual growth in retail compared to 4% for the rest of the UK. Retail pay is catching up to the country’s average, at 65.9% in 2014, and 70.0% in 2019.

Responding to the ASHE, Kyle Monk, head of retail insight and analytics at the BRC commented, “Retail pay growth has accelerated at a faster rate than the UK overall, with retail pay packets up 5.7% when compared to last year. This is in line with what we have seen in previous years, where the retail industry pay growth has outstripped the rest of the UK. In recent years retail has also closed the gap with UK average pay, climbing from 65% in 2014 to 70% in 2019.

“Retail is in the midst of a transformation. While the number of the retail jobs has fallen in recent years, there has been a rise in better paid, high-skill roles such as in digital marketing, AI, and data science. This has helped contribute to retail productivity outpacing other industries in recent years.

Monk also added that while the gender pay gap was lower than other industries, more needed to be done. “It is also encouraging that retail continues to have a substantially lower gender pay gap than other industries, however more work must be done. The pay gap in retail now sits at 9.5%, compared to the UK average of 17.3% .”