About this data

Source: Low Pay Commission; GOV.UK, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates; ONS, CPIH

• The National Minimum Wage was introduced in April 1999 at £3.60 an hour. In April 2016, a higher rate for older workers, the National Living Wage, replaced it as the main adult rate.
• Until 2015, rates rose each October; since 2016, each April. Each year shows the rate in force on 1 April.
• Adjusted for inflation with the CPIH index for April each year.

This chart appears in Employment and wages.