Minimum wage increase 2025: How Much Are Minimum Wages Set to Rise? UK Latest Updates & 2025 Forecast. Prior to the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves declared that 2.7 million workers would see an increase in the minimum wage in April 2026.
The National Minimum Wage is paid to workers between the ages of 18 and 20, while the National Living Wage is paid to those above the age of 21. The charges are applicable throughout the United Kingdom.
What is the value of the National Living Wage?
The National Living Wage for workers 21 years of age and over has been £12.21 per hour since April 2025.
In April 2026, this will increase to £12.71 per hour.
That comes to £24,784.50 annually for a full-time worker (37.5 hours per week), an increase of £900.
What is the value of the National Minimum Wage?
The rate for those aged 18 to 20 increased by 16% to £10 per hour in April from £8.60. It will rise by 8.5% to £10.85 in April of next year.
For a full-time employee, that equates to an annual rise of £1,500.
The government stated that it intends to eventually eliminate this distinct rate for individuals aged 18 to 20 and establish a single charge for all people.
For 16 and 17-year-olds, the minimum wage is presently £7.55 per hour. In April, it will rise by 6% to £8 per hour.
How much is it worth and what is the apprentice rate?
Depending on your age and the stage of your apprenticeship, different pay rates apply.
Apprentices between the ages of 16 and 18 are eligible for the £7.55 National Minimum Wage.
In April, this will increase to £8.
The same sum is paid to those who are 19 years old or in their first year of apprenticeship.
However, people who are older than 19 or who have finished their first year are eligible for the National Living Wage or National Minimum Wage rate that corresponds to their age.
How do apprenticeships operate?
Who is not eligible for the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage?
The National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage are not available to certain workers.
This encompasses independent contractors, business owners, volunteers, military personnel, and inmates.
Participants in government labour programs who have long-term unemployment or disability receive fixed compensation at various phases of the program.
These fall short of the corresponding Living Rate or National Minimum.
Do employers have to pay the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage?
Indeed. If employers fail to pay qualified employees the proper National Minimum and Living Wages, it is illegal.
Even if employees are not paid by the hour, they are nonetheless subject to the rates.
You can file a complaint on the HMRC website if you believe you are being paid incorrectly.
Acas, workplace experts, can also offer you help.
What occurs when businesses fail to pay workers the appropriate wage?
HMRC may punish any employer who fails to pay the correct amount.
A list of about 500 firms who were fined over £10 million for not paying the minimum wage was made public by the government in October 2025.
It claimed that almost £6 million was reimbursed to 42,000 employees of businesses like Holland & Barrett, Euro Garages and Centrica, the parent company of British Gas.
Some of the listed companies had underpayments as far back as 2013, and they were punished up to twice the total amount they owed employees.
What is the Real Living Wage and how much is it?
The Living Wage Foundation foundation is in charge of the Real Living Wage, an unofficial hourly wage.
It is optional, and companies are free to decide whether or not to pay it. It is intended for UK workers who are 18 years of age and older. Every October, the pay goes up.
The nonprofit claims that around 500,000 workers who work for over 16,000 companies are paid at the voluntary rate.
This implies that starting in October 2025, workers in London will make at least £14.80 per hour, or the London Living Wage, a rise of 95p, or 5.3%.
The rate rose by 85p to £13.45, or 6.7%, throughout the remainder of the United Kingdom.
According to the Living Wage Foundation, the rate is worth £5,050 more in London and £2,418 more annually than the UK’s legal minimum wage