Doctors enjoy bigger pay rises than any other profession since 2017
Figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed doctors have benefited from pay rises of 91pc over the past eight years, a real-terms increase of 41pc when adjusting for inflation.
The average advertised salary for a medical practitioner was £99,500 in May, up from £52,000 in January 2017. After adjusting for inflation, this represents a £21,400 real terms increase.
The figures, which were compiled by tracking median salaries in online job adverts, show that no group of workers has seen bigger pay rises than medical practitioners.
It comes as junior doctors are poised to walk out over five days from next week, with unions demanding a 29pc pay rise.
The ONS data shows doctors' advertised wages have grown twice as fast as those earned by cleaners, which saw the second-largest increase by profession over the period.
Cleaners are on average offered 21pc more than eight years ago in real terms, boosted by big increases to the national minimum wage.
The ONS data includes 105 occupations, of which only 25 had higher advertised salaries than in 2017 after inflation.
Pilots and printers miss out
The figures underline tensions as doctors are pushing for another major pay increase after receiving a 22pc boost last year, at a time when big tax rises are looming.
In contrast, the median advertised salary in the UK was £33,000 in May, scarcely up from £29,100 over the same period. Once adjusting for inflation, this represents a 16pc fall in real terms – equivalent to £4,760.
Patients are bracing for cancellations and delays from next week unless Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, can avert strikes in negotiations with unions.
Hospital bosses have warned the strikes will cause 'absolute chaos', with reports of previous walkouts being linked with five deaths in 2023 and 2024.
It is understood Mr Streeting is exploring writing off student debt to avert up to 50,000 medics going on strike.
The figures published by the ONS show that the vast majority of occupations offer lower advertised average wages now than in 2017 after inflation – making doctors significant outliers.
Among the biggest losers are pilots, logistics managers and printers.
Likewise, architects, IT technicians and project managers command far lower salaries in today's market - with median advertised pay a fifth lower after inflation.
While the data only includes job postings that specify salary bands, it comes after a decade and a half of poor pay growth following the financial crisis.
The biggest relative winners are mostly found in occupations boosted by inflation-beating jumps in the minimum wage and worker shortages.
They include traffic wardens, labourers and forklift drivers.
Tax rises on the horizon
Demands from doctors for pay rises well above the 5.4pc they have been offered come against a backdrop of a shrinking economy, struggling jobs market and tight public finances.
Hiring has been falling for three years straight, with Deutsche Bank warning 'hiring plans are near a standstill.'
The latest figures published this week meanwhile show unemployment at a four-year high of 4.7pc.
Polling by YouGov shows only a third of the public are behind striking doctors, while half oppose the walkouts. Economists have warned they will cost the economy nearly £13m a day.
The pay protests from doctors come as Rachel Reeves faces a black hole in the public finances that could be as large as £30bn ahead of the autumn Budget.
High borrowing costs, uncertainty from Donald Trump's trade war and costly Labour u-turns on welfare and pensions mean the Chancellor will likely have to put through major tax rises.
A British Medical Association spokesperson said: 'It's selective to just look at job advert figures – they do not represent what people earn and their purchasing power. When you look at the ONS's own statistics on earnings, doctors' pay has fallen by a much greater amount in real terms than the rest of the population.
'Meanwhile, while doctors' pay is still at least a fifth down on 2008/09, analysis of ONS figures show that wages across the whole economy are closer to returning to pre-2009 levels.'
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