GDP per head has historically been used as a proxy for household wealth. In most economies, that
is a reasonable shortcut — output and income track each other fairly closely.
In the Crown Dependencies, they don't. The Isle of Man's GDP per head is roughly
£69,000. The median full-time employee earns around
£38,000.
That gap — between what is produced on the island and what residents take home — is structural.
It reflects profits flowing to capital, not labour: to shareholders and beneficial owners who
largely live elsewhere. This page shows the earnings side of that equation.
View
The median is the wage at which half of workers earn more and half earn less — it is
a better measure of the typical worker than the mean, which is pulled upward by
high earners.
In 2024, the Isle of Man median full-time wage was
£765/week (~£39,800/year). The island's GDP per head in 2023
was roughly £69,000. That gap — between what the economy produces and what the median
employee takes home — is not a measurement error. It is profits flowing to capital rather
than labour.
Jersey median was an estimated £850/week
against GDP/head of ~£65,500. Guernsey's median annual
earnings of £42,672 tell a similar story. The UK median
was £709/week — and UK GDP per head was roughly £36,400. In the UK, wages and output
per head are within a few percent of each other. Here, they are not.
⚠ These series are not strictly comparable: different reference periods, different
definitions of full-time, and different coverage. Treat as directionally informative.
IoM. Statistics IoM Annual Earnings Survey — median weekly gross earnings
of full-time employees on adult rates, pay unaffected by absence. Reference: June of each year.
Methodological break at 2012: prior-year average/median figures restated from 2012 onward
to remove the "trimming" of top earners; pre-2012 values may not be directly comparable.
2024: £765/week (median), £929/week (mean). Survey of ~800 employers, ~2,500 employee respondents.
Jersey. Statistics Jersey Index of Average Earnings (IAE). The IAE directly
produces mean FTE earnings from firm-level data; a median cannot be derived from
company-level data alone. The median series shown here uses the 2021/22 Living Costs and
Household Income Survey (LCHIS) estimate uprated by the IAE index — it is an estimate, not
a directly surveyed median. Latest uprated estimate: £850/week (June 2024), £890/week (June 2025).
Guernsey. States of Guernsey Rolling Electronic Census, remuneration data
from Revenue Service. Median annual earnings: £42,672 (year to June 2024), £40,516 (year to
June 2023). Data covers employed and self-employed; not directly comparable with IoM/Jersey
weekly FT surveys. Converted to weekly: ÷52.18.
UK. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Table 1, median weekly
gross earnings for all full-time employee jobs. Reference: April of each year. 2024: £709/week.
IoM and Jersey surveys cover only employees (not self-employed). Guernsey includes
self-employed. Jersey median is an estimate uprated from a 2022 survey, introducing
additional uncertainty compared to directly surveyed figures.
Series
Comparability caveats
The four series on this chart are sourced from different national surveys with different designs. They should be read as indicating the order of magnitude of earnings differences, not as precise cross-jurisdiction comparisons.
IoM methodological break (2012)
From 2015, the IoM Earnings Survey stopped "trimming" high earners from the average calculation, aligning with ONS methodology. Average earnings figures have been restated from 2012 onwards. Pre-2012 figures are not directly comparable and are shown as a dashed line.
Jersey median estimation
Statistics Jersey's IAE is a firm-level survey and cannot produce an individual-level median. The median shown here is an uprated estimate from the 2021/22 LCHIS, with uncertainty increasing as the uprating period extends. Statistics Jersey notes the estimate as ±£20 confidence interval.
Guernsey annual-to-weekly conversion
Guernsey reports median annual earnings; converted here to weekly (÷52.18). The annual figure covers all employed and self-employed workers, not just full-time employees — this will tend to pull the figure down relative to full-time-only IoM and UK series.
Jersey: Statistics Jersey Index of Average Earnings, June releases 2009–2025; median uprated from 2021/22 LCHIS
Guernsey: States of Guernsey Quarterly Population, Employment and Earnings Bulletin (Revenue Service data)
UK: ONS ASHE Table 1 (median weekly gross pay, full-time employee jobs, April each year)
Mean (average) earnings are pulled upward by high earners — in the IoM's case,
concentrated notably at the top of government — so they consistently exceed median earnings.
The gap between mean and median within each jurisdiction is itself a signal:
a wide gap indicates a skewed distribution where most workers earn below the average.
In 2024, the Isle of Man mean full-time wage was
£929/week versus a median of £765 — a gap of £164.
Jersey shows an even wider spread: mean
~£990/week against an estimated £850 median.
Guernsey does not publish a mean individual earnings series,
but one can be estimated: applying the historical mean-to-median ratio implied by the
Guernsey Household Income data (mean gross household income £74,568, 2022) and uprating
by published nominal wage growth gives an indicative mean of roughly
£1,010–£1,060/week for 2024 — consistent with Jersey's figure and
Guernsey's similar financial sector concentration.
The Guernsey figure is estimated, not directly published. See governance notes.
All three island means are pulled well above their respective medians by sectoral
concentration — a pattern absent in the UK, where mean and median are much closer.
IoM. Table 2, IoM Annual Earnings Survey — mean (average) weekly gross earnings
of full-time employees on adult rates, pay unaffected by absence. Trimming of top earners removed
from 2015; series restated 2012 onwards for consistency. 2024: £929/week.
Jersey. Statistics Jersey IAE headline figure — mean FTE earnings derived from
firm-level data (total payroll ÷ headcount equivalent). 2024: £990/week (June 2024), £1,040/week
(June 2025). Excludes bonuses, holiday pay, and benefits in kind. Includes overtime.
The IAE is designed to measure changes in average earnings; level estimates carry
±£20 uncertainty (95% CI).
Guernsey (estimated). Guernsey's Rolling Electronic Census publishes only median
earnings at individual level. A mean is estimated here using two sources: (1) the 2022 Guernsey
Household Income Report (mean gross unequivalised household income £74,568; mean household size
2.3 → implied per-person gross ~£32,400, but this includes non-earners); (2) the mean-to-median
ratio of ~1.28 implied by sector-weighted earnings distributions in the quarterly bulletin
(Financial & insurance activities median £57,394 in 2024, 34.5% above overall median,
accounting for ~23% of employment). Applying ratio 1.28 to the 2024 median of £42,672
gives an implied mean annual of ~£54,620 (÷52.18 = ~£1,047/week). Uprated from 2015
using published nominal wage bill growth rates. Treat as an indicative estimate only;
confidence interval ±£75–100/week.
UK. ONS ASHE Table 1, mean weekly gross pay for all full-time employee jobs.
April each year. 2024: £850/week.
Jersey's FTE adjustment inflates its mean relative to a headcount-weighted mean — part-time
workers are scaled to full-time equivalents. IoM and UK figures are not FTE-adjusted.
The Guernsey estimate is not FTE-adjusted and covers all workers (including part-time and
self-employed), which may pull it below a full-time-equivalent basis.
Series
FTE adjustment (Jersey)
Jersey's IAE reports earnings on a full-time equivalent basis, scaling part-time workers up. This inflates the mean relative to a headcount approach. The UK and IoM figures are not FTE-adjusted, making Jersey's mean appear higher than a like-for-like comparison would show.
Guernsey mean — derivation and uncertainty
Guernsey publishes no mean individual earnings series. The estimate shown is derived by applying a mean-to-median ratio of ~1.28 to the published annual median, informed by: the 2022 Household Income Report (mean gross household income £74,568 ÷ household size 2.3); and the sector earnings distribution in the quarterly bulletin, where Financial & Insurance activities (23% of employment) has a median 34.5% above the overall median — a classic skew pattern. The ratio is then held constant and the series uprated by published nominal wage bill growth rates. Confidence interval ±£75–100/week. Not directly comparable with any published Guernsey statistic.
Jersey: Statistics Jersey IAE June releases 2009–2025
Guernsey: derived — States of Guernsey Household Income Report 2022; Quarterly Bulletin sector earnings Table 6.4.1; nominal wage bill growth rates (gov.gg/population)
UK: ONS ASHE Table 1, mean weekly gross pay, full-time employee jobs
Adjusted for inflation — what earnings actually buy, not just what they look like on a payslip.
The picture is already sobering: the Isle of Man saw real earnings
essentially flat from 2015 to 2024, and Statistics Jersey reports that over the 10 years to
June 2024, real average earnings increased by just 1.3% in total.
But these figures almost certainly overstate how far wages have kept pace with
the cost of living for most people — because the inflation measures used do not capture
house prices.
RPI and CPI include housing costs — rents, and mortgage interest for existing borrowers — but
they do not measure the price of buying a home.
On the Isle of Man, average property prices were flat from 2010 to 2020 and then rose 30%
in five years, reaching roughly £376,000 by 2025 — a price-to-earnings ratio of
7.9× average salary. A first-time buyer needs a deposit of £84,000–£123,000.
In Jersey, a mean-income household can afford to mortgage a one-bedroom flat,
but not a two-bedroom flat and not any house. In 2021/22, 82% of
lower-income private renters were in rental stress.
None of that is in the real earnings index. Existing owners with low mortgages have seen
their real earnings hold up reasonably well. First-time buyers and renters have not.
⚠ Real series use different deflators (IoM: RPI; Jersey: RPI; UK: CPI). Deflators are not
harmonised — see the Inflation Explorer. Housing costs in these indices reflect rents and
existing mortgage interest only; they do not capture property purchase prices or deposit
requirements. The real earnings line should be read as an upper bound on purchasing power
gains for anyone without existing property equity.
IoM real series. IoM Annual Earnings Survey — nominal earnings deflated
by IoM RPI (March of the survey year). Series rebased to 2015=100 for display. Note IoM RPI ≠
IoM CPI; the Earnings Survey uses RPI. The 2024 report states no statistically significant
difference between real median earnings in 2024 and any year since 2018.
Jersey real series. Statistics Jersey IAE in real terms: nominal IAE index ÷
Jersey RPI. Index only (not a level); rebased to 2015=100. Over 2001–2020, real earnings
increased 0.7% across the entire 19-year period. Over 2020–2024, decreased 3.3%. As of 2025,
remain below 2009 level.
UK real series. ONS ASHE median weekly earnings ÷ CPI (D7G7, 2015=100).
Housing cost omission. The RPI and CPI used to deflate these series include:
actual rents paid; and mortgage interest payments for existing borrowers (RPI only — CPI
excludes owner-occupier housing costs entirely; CPIH adds an imputed rental cost instead).
Neither measure captures the capital cost of property acquisition. This is a structural
limitation of standard inflation indices for jurisdictions with rapid house price appreciation.
IoM: average house price ~£275–285k from 2010–2020, rising to ~£376k by 2025 (+30% in 5 years;
source: IoM Housing Market Review 2023 / Land Registry data). Price-to-earnings ratio 7.9×
average annual salary (2024; source: IoM Government Objective Assessment of Housing Need /
Earnings Survey 2024). Jersey: mix-adjusted average house price ~£688k (Q4 2025); a
mean-income working household cannot affordably service a mortgage on any property larger than
a 1-bed flat (source: Statistics Jersey Jersey Housing Affordability Index Q4 2024/2025).
82% of lower-income private renters in rental stress in 2021/22 (source: Statistics Jersey
LCHIS 2021/22). Guernsey: mix-adjusted average ~£591k (Q4 2025; source: Statistics Jersey
comparative calculation using Guernsey methodology).
The appropriate deflator for assessing the real cost of housing tenure-change (buying a first
property, upsizing, or moving from renting to ownership) would be a house price index, not
RPI/CPI. No such deflated earnings series is published by any of the island governments.
The series shown here should therefore be read as measuring real purchasing power for
existing owners and stable renters, not for anyone whose housing cost is subject
to market re-pricing.
MeasureSeries
Index rebasing
To show all series on the same chart, each is rebased to 2015=100. This allows comparison of growth trajectories but not absolute purchasing power levels. The absolute weekly wage figures are available in the Median and Mean tabs.
IoM: RPI vs CPI
The IoM Earnings Survey uses RPI to deflate earnings to constant prices. IoM also publishes a CPI (from 2009). RPI and CPI use different formulae (Carli vs Jevons) and different baskets; the two measures can diverge significantly in years with large housing or energy cost movements. The choice of deflator materially affects the real-terms picture.
Jersey: index vs level
The Jersey real earnings series is an index of change, not a level estimate. It measures the growth (or contraction) of real earnings relative to a base period. A value of 95 means real earnings are 5% below the base year — it does not imply that Jersey workers earn less than UK workers in absolute terms.
The gap between output and income.
The Crown Dependencies record GDP or GVA per head at roughly 180–200% of UK.
Median wages in the Isle of Man are around 108% of UK. Jersey: roughly
120%. The islands produce at twice the UK rate per resident.
Their residents earn a modest premium.
The missing 70–80 percentage points flow to capital — corporate profits, fund returns,
licence fees — owned largely by people who do not live here.
That is not a flaw in the data. It is the data telling the truth.
This chart shows wages as a ratio to the UK — 100% means parity with UK earnings.
The Isle of Man median sat at roughly
108% of UK in 2024 (£765 vs £709), and the premium has been narrowing
over the past decade as UK wages grew faster in real terms.
Jersey sits higher — median around 120% of UK
— though partly an artefact of the FTE basis of Jersey's data rather than a true
purchasing-power difference.
Guernsey (annual median converted to weekly) is broadly
similar to Jersey.
Now hold those ratios against the GDP/head ratios on the Economic Performance page.
That is the full picture: islands that outproduce the UK two-to-one, where most workers
earn only a little more than their UK counterparts, and where real wages have been
essentially flat for a decade.
Series comparability is limited — see governance notes. Treat as directionally informative.
Construction. Ratio = jurisdiction nominal median or mean full-time weekly
earnings ÷ UK ASHE equivalent (median or mean weekly gross, all full-time employee jobs,
April). Expressed as a percentage. IoM: June survey ÷ UK April ASHE — 2-month timing
difference is not adjusted for. Jersey: June IAE mean ÷ UK April ASHE mean; Jersey median
estimate ÷ UK April ASHE median (estimated Jersey median carries additional uncertainty).
Guernsey: annual median ÷52.18 ÷ UK April ASHE median — additional uncertainty from
annual-to-weekly conversion and self-employed inclusion.
Note on FTE basis. Jersey's IAE reports earnings on an FTE basis;
the UK ASHE comparator is not FTE-adjusted. This inflates the Jersey ratio by an
indeterminate amount, likely 3–8 percentage points. The official IoM comparison to
ASHE uses the same nominal-to-nominal approach.
MeasureSeries
Why wages and GDP/GVA per head diverge
GDP/GVA measures total output produced in the jurisdiction. Wages measure what resident employees earn. The gap between the two is explained by: (1) corporate profits retained or distributed to non-resident shareholders; (2) income from capital rather than labour; (3) the presence of a small number of very high earners in financial services who lift GDP/GVA per head without affecting median wages much. In concentrated financial centres, this gap is structurally large.
Living wage and minimum wage context
In 2024, 21.1% of IoM employees earned less than the IoM Living Wage (up from 15.6% in 2023), and 1.9% earned the Minimum Wage. These figures suggest the lower tail of the earnings distribution may be widening. The living wage increase from £10.87 (2022) to higher rates in 2023–24 mechanically increases the share below the new threshold even if underlying wages also rose.