National Living Wage (age 21 and over)

The National Living Wage hourly rate for workers aged 21 and over.

£12.71per hour

Corroborated Statutory Instrument United Kingdom in force since 2026-04-01

Checked against its sources: statute verified 2026-09-21·guidance verified 2026-09-21

Scope: NLW age threshold has moved: 25+ (2016-04-01), 23+ (2021-04-01, SI 2021/329), 21+ (2024-04-01, SI 2024/432). Historical values apply to the threshold in force at the time — see per-entry citations. For 21-22-year-olds before 2024-04-01 see Minimum wage: age 21 to 22 (abolished 2024) (repealed).

Current sources

Source A · Legislationhttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/357/regulation/2/made (NMW Regs 2015 reg.4; SI 2026/357)

retrieved 2026-07-08

Source B · Official guidancehttps://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates

retrieved 2026-07-29

History

Value	From	To	Status	Sources
£12.71	2026-04-01	—	Corroborated	Legislation: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/357/regulation/2/made (NMW Regs 2015 reg.4; SI 2026/357) retrieved 2026-07-08 Official guidance: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates retrieved 2026-07-29
£12.21	2025-04-01	2026-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2025/401 — age 21+; provenance: as-made CLML read (A) + gov.uk historical table (B) retrieved 2026-07-08
£11.44	2024-04-01	2025-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2024/432 — age threshold 23 -> 21; 21-22 band abolished; provenance: as-made CLML read (A) + gov.uk historical table (B) retrieved 2026-07-08
£10.42	2023-04-01	2024-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2023/354 — age 23+; provenance: as-made CLML read (A) + gov.uk historical table (B) retrieved 2026-07-08
£9.50	2022-04-01	2023-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2022/382 — age 23+; provenance: as-made CLML read (A) + gov.uk historical table (B) retrieved 2026-07-08
£8.91	2021-04-01	2022-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2021/329 — age threshold 25 -> 23; provenance: as-made CLML read (A) + gov.uk historical table (B) retrieved 2026-07-08
£8.72	2020-04-01	2021-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2020/338 — age 25+; provenance: as-made CLML read (A) + gov.uk historical table (B) retrieved 2026-07-08
£8.21	2019-04-01	2020-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2019/603 — age 25+; provenance: as-made CLML read (A) + gov.uk historical table (B) retrieved 2026-07-08
£7.83	2018-04-01	2019-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2018/455 — age 25+; provenance: as-made CLML read (A); gov.uk historical tables do not extend this far back — A-only retrieved 2026-07-08
£7.50	2017-04-01	2018-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2017/465 — age 25+; provenance: as-made CLML read (A); gov.uk historical tables do not extend this far back — A-only retrieved 2026-07-08
£7.20	2016-04-01	2017-03-31	Primary source only	Legislation: NMW (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2016/68 — NLW introduced, age 25+; provenance: as-made CLML read (A); gov.uk historical tables do not extend this far back — A-only retrieved 2026-07-08

Receipt

Everything above is reproducible and independently checkable — no trust in this site required (how verification works).

Figure ID: employment.nmw.nlw_21_over
Name in the API: National Living Wage (21 and over)
Record fields (source type · unit · jurisdiction · status): si·GBP/hour·UK·corroborated
Record hash (canonical JSON, SHA-256): sha256:f09210c2710c5ff961f6cbd98bd860f972d7634cc065fe4470c554302871b272
Source snapshots (SHA-256): Legislation: sha256:a148eac49104abb1bf04b732e1c26e1cf14636404f8716d00e684ab992bdde77; Official guidance: sha256:5c48a50b6bea4b7cd4aa545af6767c206fe80129b44f6d2e67acb6245e036112
Listed in the signed manifest: release 3.0.0 manifest · record_hashes["employment.nmw.nlw_21_over"]
Machine-readable record: /v1/figures/employment.nmw.nlw_21_over · current only: /v1/figures/employment.nmw.nlw_21_over/current