UK workers have received a 0.4% pay rise in 2025, one of the weakest salary outcomes in Europe, according to the latest report from ECA International.
The advisory services platform surveyed nearly 200 multinational employers in more than 65 locations for its Salary trends survey 2025/2026. It calculated the forecast average real salary increase in a country by looking at the predicted average nominal salary percentage rise, such as employees’ pay increase, and subtracting the forecast inflation.
The findings revealed that this placed the UK 21st out of 25 European nations, due to continuing high UK inflation.
France (+2.2%), Germany (+1.5%) and Italy (+1.8%) all saw real-term increases higher than that of the UK. Global real salaries have stabilised, with a median increase of 1.7% in 2025.
Countries from the Asia Pacific region had a median 3.1% real increase in 2025, more than double the 1.4% European rate. India had a 6.2% real increase, China saw a 4.1% rise and Indonesia saw a 4.2% uplift.
Pakistan tops the 2025 global ranking with a 7.5% real salary increase, while Turkey tops the 2026 forecast with an estimated 8.1% rise, as nominal pay awards outpace inflation.
Meanwhile, Argentina is near the bottom of the 2025 global rankings, as inflation wiped out nominal awards. This has resulted in a 13.8% cut in real purchasing power, though a return to real wage growth has been forecast for next year.
Neil Ashman, analytics manager – location insight at ECA International, said: “The data reveals a world of contrasts. Turkey has seen nominal wages well ahead of inflation in 2025 after years of negative real wage growth. At the same time, nations such as Argentina have continued to see living standards eroded, although the outlook is a little brighter. This underscores the critical need for businesses to have a clear and data-driven strategy for managing compensation in different regions.”
