"Comparisons of the 2024 gender pay gap with other years should be made with caution.

A new reporting field for accrued optional pay schemes in the private sector was introduced for the 2024 data collection. Reporting quality issues associated with this change meant that around 2 per cent more observations than usual had to be excluded from the 2024 Structure of Earnings Statistics. This particularly affects hourly-paid employees in the private sector and thus the calculated earnings levels and the gender pay gap. Figures for hourly-paid employees in the private sector and the gender pay gap are therefore subject to greater uncertainty than normal.

Please refer to documentation of statistics (section 7.2, Comparability over time) for a more detailed explanation"