Annual average weekly earnings growth slowed in November
Average weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time adults were $2,051.10 in November 2025, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
This is a rise of 2.0 per cent from May 2025, when earnings were $2,010.00.
Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: ‘Growth in average weekly earnings for full-time adults for the six months to November 2025 was 2.0 per cent. This was lower than the 2.7 per cent during the same period in 2024, but higher than the 1.7 per cent growth in the six months to May 2025.
‘Annual growth to November 2025 was 3.8 per cent, an increase of $75.30. This was lower than the annual growth of 4.5 per cent seen to May 2025 and 4.6 per cent to November 2024.
‘The gender pay gap in average weekly ordinary full-time earnings remained at 11.5 per cent which was the equal lowest gender pay gap in this series. The gap has been around this level since May 2024.’
The gender pay gap in average weekly ordinary full-time earnings is the most commonly cited of the gender pay gap measures.
‘Both public and private sectors saw growth in average weekly earnings for full-time adults.
‘Private sector average weekly earnings rose by 2.0 per cent in the six months to November 2025, while the public sector rose by 1.9 per cent.
‘Annual growth was 3.7 per cent for the private sector and 3.9 per cent for the public sector.'
Find more data, including industry and state and territory breakdowns, on our Average Weekly Earnings release page.
The ABS would like to thank businesses in Australia for their continued support in responding to our surveys.
Media notes
- Percentage movements in average weekly earnings can be affected by changes in both the level of earnings per employee and in the composition of employment. Factors that can contribute to compositional change include variations in the proportion of full-time, part-time, casual and junior employees; variations in the occupational distribution within and across industries; and variations in the distribution of employment between industries.
- Average weekly earnings statistics provide insights into weekly earnings for males and females, including information by industry, sector, and state/territory of work. They are one of the best sources of information for measuring weekly earnings differences between males and females in Australia and complement a range of other related statistics produced by the ABS (e.g. Employee Earnings and Hours and Characteristics of Employment) and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
- An alternative source for estimates of movements in earnings (wages growth) is the quarterly Wage Price Index (WPI). Unlike AWE, the WPI is designed to measure the change over time in the price of wages and salaries (i.e. a pure price change, unaffected by the changes in the quality or quantity of work performed or the composition of the workforce). WPI is produced on a quarterly basis.
- Estimates of percentage change have been calculated using unrounded estimates and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from calculating percentage changes using the rounded estimates presented in this publication.
- Data in this media release refer to seasonally adjusted data.
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