Both the median and mean gender pay gap have fallen to their lowest levels since the civil service began reporting them.
The median gender pay gap for the civil service has reduced from 8.5% in 2024 to 6.4% in 2025, figures in the new 2025 Civil Service Statistics release show.
Meanwhile, the mean gender pay gap has gone down from 7.4% in 2024 to 6.9% in 2025.
These are the lowest reported gaps for both measures since the civil service started reporting on the median gender pay gap for the overall workforce in 2007 and the mean gender pay gap in 2017, when more stringent report requirements came into law.
Civil service gender pay gap since 2017
| Year |
Median |
Mean |
| 2025 |
6.4% |
6.9% |
| 2024 |
8.5% |
7.4% |
| 2023 |
9.6% |
8.1% |
| 2022 |
11.3% |
8.5% |
| 2021 |
8.1% |
7.8% |
| 2020 |
10.5% |
9.3% |
| 2019 |
11.1% |
9.2% |
| 2018 |
12.2% |
9.8% |
| 2017 |
12.7% |
11% |
In most cases, where large median pay gaps exist, it is because there is a higher proportion of men in senior – and more highly paid – roles, or of women in more junior roles. The narrowing of the median pay gap in 2025 comes as representation of women at senior level has increased. Men still outnumber women at SCS level, but the percentage of women in senior grades is on the rise, and in 2025 49.2% of senior civil servants are women compared to 48.2% in 2024 and 38.9% in 2015. Also, women have overtaken men at G6/G7, which has 50.2% women in 2025, compared to 49.8% in 2024 and 43.8% in 2015.
However, women remain under-represented in the highest pay quartile (48.1% women compared to 51.9% men) and over-represented in the lowest pay quartile (61.1% women compared to 38.9% men).
The 2025 data also shows that the median bonus gender pay gap for the civil service reduced significantly this year, falling from 22.4% in 2024 to 14.3% in 2025, while the mean bonus gender pay gap went down from 25.7% to 22.5% across the same period.