Chart 8: Real pay by region 1998-2007  2009-2018  Average annual real pay growth (per cent) 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5 -1 -1.5  Sources: ONS and Bank of England calculations. Notes: Data at annual frequency using median gross weekly pay in ASHE deflated by CPI. Regional calculations at NUTS1 level. Over the past decade, average growth rates of real pay in every UK region have fallen into negative territory and well below average GDP growth rates in the economy over the same period (1.3%). The worst-affected regions have been the East Midlands and London. Scunthorpe has been towards the lower end of this pack, with real pay falling by, on average, 0.8% per year over the past decade. The distribution of real pay rises across the wage distribution tells a nuanced story (Chart 9). In the decade prior to the crisis, real pay growth was fairly evenly distributed. The one exception was the top two wage deciles, where real pay growth averaged 2 ¼% – 0.5 percentage points higher than in the lower deciles. The global financial crisis (2008-11) saw a sharp and significant amplification of these pre-crisis trends. The distribution of real pay rises fell below zero for all income groups. But while for the top two income deciles real pay shrank by only 2%, for the bottom two deciles it fell by 4%. This widened pre-existing wage inequalities. For the poor, this really was a Great Recession.
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