Average weekly earnings in the construction industry

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes monthly updates on average weekly earnings across the whole economy and by industry and sector in Great Britain. This commentary relates to ONS’s EARN02 and EARN03 datasets, which cover non-seasonally adjusted earnings, excluding bonuses and including arrears.

Construction wage growth maintains annual decline in April

Construction wages, as measured by index K5AH in the ONS’s Average Weekly Earnings dataset⁽¹⁾, decreased by 0.4% in the year to April 2026. This was a slightly smaller fall than the 1.1% decrease seen in the 12 months to March 2026. On the month, there was a 1.1% increase in the construction industry’s average weekly earnings.

Across the whole economy, the average increase in earnings in the year to April 2026 was 3.4%, down slightly from a 3.3% increase seen in the year to March 2026, according to index KA5H⁽²⁾.

Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said: ‘Construction earnings growth continues to lag behind both the wider economy and many other sectors. This is unsurprising given the ongoing conflict and disruption that persisted throughout April. In a weak market, businesses remain focused on controlling costs, and with recruitment activity subdued, there is little pressure to raise wages significantly.

‘While there are hopes that the conflict in the Middle East may be drawing to a close, uncertainty remains elevated and the impact on costs is still working its way through the industry. Wage growth is therefore likely to remain relatively subdued in the coming months until demand strengthens and trading conditions improve.’

Annual growth in earnings in construction was lower than the whole economy average for the twelfth consecutive month in April 2026.

^{Source: ONS – EARN02: Average weekly earnings by sector, Table 7, and EARN03: Average weekly earnings by industry, Table 4}

Comparing pay at a sector level (with index K56S), construction workers again saw the only annual decrease in average weekly earnings across all sectors.

The greatest annual wage growth was recorded in the public sector with a 6.1% rise.

^{Source: ONS – EARN02: Average weekly earnings by sector, Table 7}

The ONS data show that the construction sector has experienced the most extreme fluctuations in earnings movement in recent years, from a 9.5% annual decrease in May 2020 to a 13.4% increase year-on-year in May 2021.

^{Source: ONS – EARN02: Average weekly earnings by sector, Table 7}

BCIS produces five-year forecasts of the Average Weekly Earnings construction (K5AH) and whole economy (KA5H) time series for subscribers of BCIS OpX.

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^{(1) Office for National Statistics – EARN03: Average weekly earnings by industry  - here}

^{(2) Office for National Statistics – EARN02: Average weekly earnings by sector  - here}