The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 October 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on what the level of average income was in each of the last 30 years at today’s prices. (93511)
Average income at today’s prices is taken to be real households’ disposable income which is shown in the attached table. Further data are available from table 2.4 (Income, product and spending per head) in Economic Trends which is available at the following address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=308&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422
Average real households’ disposable income is calculated using the total resident population for the United Kingdom
The estimates for real household disposable income is the national accounts series for the combined household and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sectors. Estimates for households alone are not available. NPISHs are legal entities which are principally engaged in the production of non-market services for households and whose main resources are voluntary contributions by households. For example, charities; relief and aid organisations; educational establishments; Trade Unions; Professional Associations, Political Parties and Religious Organisations, and Sports Clubs and Associations.
Real households’ disposable income per head (£) 1976 6,160 1977 6,037 1978 6,480 1979 6,856 1980 6,958 1981 6,922 1982 6,907 1983 7,044 1984 7,295 1985 7,525 1986 7,817 1987 8,088 1988 8,516 1989 8,888 1990 9,166 1991 9,318 1992 9,564 1993 9,793 1994 9,911 1995 10,142 1996 10,358 1997 10,721 1998 10,850 1999 11,111 2000 11,570 2001 12,021 2002 12,184 2003 12,433 2004 12,583 2005 12,782