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Publication, Part of

GP Earnings and Expenses Estimates 2019/20

Official statistics,

Publication Date:
19 Aug 2021
Geographic Coverage:
United Kingdom
Geographical Granularity:
Country, Regions
Date Range:
01 Apr 2019 to 31 Mar 2020

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Main Findings

England GP Average Earnings and Expenses Estimates

Combined GPs (Contractor and Salaried) GPs

  • The average income before tax for combined GPs (contractor and salaried) in England in 2019/20 was £100,700 for those GPs working in either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) practice compared to £98,000 in 2018/19, an increase of 2.7 per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for combined GPs in England in 2019/20 was £92,300 compared to £90,500 in 2018/19, an increase of 2 per cent.

Contractor GPs

  • The average income before tax for contractor GPs in England in 2019/20 was:
    • £121,200 for those GPs working under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract compared to £116,100 in 2018/19, an increase of 4.4 per cent which is statistically significant
    • £123,300 for those GPs working under a Primary Medical Services (PMS) contract compared to £120,500 in 2018/19, an increase of 2.3 per cent which is statistically significant
    • £121,800 for those GPs working under either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) contract, a statistically significant increase of 3.8 per cent from £117,300 in 2018/19
  • The median income before tax for GPMS contractor GPs in England in 2019/20 was £114,400 compared to £111,200 in 2018/19, an increase of 2.9 per cent.
  • The average gross earnings for GPMS contractor GPs in England in 2019/20 was £402,600 compared to £380,900 in 2018/19, an increase of 5.7 per cent.
  • The average total expenses for GPMS contractor GPs in England in 2019/20 was £280,800 compared to £263,600 in 2018/19, an increase of 6.5 per cent. Since 2005/06, expenses have been increasing at a faster rate than income before tax for GPMS contractor GPs in the England, resulting in an expenses to earnings ratio which has grown each year.
  • The expenses to earnings ratio for GPMS contractor GPs in England  in 2019/20, which represents the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses, was 69.7 per cent, an increase of 0.5 percentage points since 2018/19.
  • The average income before tax for dispensing and non-dispensing contractor GPs in England in 2019/20 was:
    • £126,300 for GMS dispensing GPs compared to £122,500 in 2018/19, an increase of 3.2 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £120,000 for GMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £114,500 in 2018/19, an increase of 4.8 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £125,800 for PMS dispensing GPs compared to £118,100 in 2018/19, an increase of 6.5 per cent, which is not statistically significant
    • £122,900 for PMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £120,800 in 2018/19, an increase of 1.7 per cent, which is not statistically significant
    • £126,200 for GPMS dispensing GPs compared to £121,700 in 2018/19, an increase of 3.7 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £120,800 for GPMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £116,300 in 2018/19, an increase of 3.9 per cent, which is statistically significant

Salaried GPs

  • The average income before tax for salaried GPs in England in 2019/20 was £63,600 for those GPs working in either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) practice compared to £60,600 in 2018/19, an increase of 4.9 per cent, which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for salaried GPs in England in 2019/20 was £59,500 compared to £56,400 in 2018/19, an increase of 5.5 per cent.
Statistical significance explained

In the Main Findings, year-on-year differences between income before tax estimates have been tested for statistical significance at a 95 per cent confidence level. An increase or decrease in estimates that is statistically significant is likely to be a genuine change, rather than resulting from chance, and means that users can have greater confidence that any apparent differences are applicable to the entire population in question.

Statistical significance in this report relates only to the fact of an increase or decrease in average income before tax and does not consider the size of the change; in some cases, apparently large changes may not be statistically significant and vice versa.

Average gross earnings, total expenses and median income before tax figures have not been tested, as standard errors were not available. Throughout the rest of the report, results and comparisons have not been tested for statistical significance unless otherwise stated.

Standard errors to support the statistical significance of the income before tax results are available in the CSV files which supplement this report. In the accompanying interactive report, margins of error, which are calculated from the standard errors, are presented. The margin of error shows the maximum expected difference between the true average income before tax and the estimate presented, with a confidence level of 95 per cent.

Scotland GP Average Earnings and Expenses Estimates

Combined GPs (Contractor and Salaried) GPs

  • The average income before tax for combined GPs (contractor and salaried) in Scotland in 2019/20 was £99,800 for those GPs working in either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) practice compared to £95,700 in 2018/19, an increase of 4.3 per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for combined GPs in Scotland in 2019/20 was £97,800 compared to £92,800 in 2018/19, an increase of 5.4 per cent.

Contractor GPs

  • The average income before tax for contractor GPs in Scotland in 2019/20 was:
    • £105,800 for those GPs working under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract compared to £100,900 in 2018/19, an increase of 4.8 per cent which is statistically significant
    • £108,800 for those GPs working under a Primary Medical Services (PMS) contract compared to £104,300 in 2018/19, an increase of 4.4 per cent which is statistically significant
    • £106,100 for those GPs working under either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) contract, a statistically significant increase of 4.8 per cent from £101,300 in 2018/19
  • The median income before tax for GPMS contractor GPs in Scotland in 2019/20 was £103,200 compared to £97,400 in 2018/19, an increase of 6 per cent.
  • The average gross earnings for GPMS contractor GPs in Scotland in 2019/20 was £241,100 compared to £223,700 in 2018/19, an increase of 7.8 per cent.
  • The average total expenses for GPMS contractor GPs in Scotland in 2019/20 was £135,000 compared to £122,400 in 2018/19, an increase of 10.3 per cent.
  • The expenses to earnings ratio for GPMS contractor GPs in Scotland in 2019/20, which represents the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses, was 56.0 per cent, an increase of 1.3 percentage points since 2018/19.
  • The average income before tax for dispensing and non-dispensing contractor GPs in Scotland in 2019/20 was:
    • £116,700 for GMS dispensing GPs compared to £115,700 in 2018/19, an increase of 0.9 per cent, which is not statistically significant
    • £105,200 for GMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £100,200 in 2018/19, an increase of 5 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £106,000 for PMS dispensing GPs compared to £110,300 in 2018/19, a decrease of 3.9 per cent, which is not statistically significant
    • £109,300 for PMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £103,300 in 2018/19, an increase of 5.9 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £113,600 for GPMS dispensing GPs compared to £114,100 in 2018/19, a decrease of 0.5 per cent, which is not statistically significant
    • £105,700 for GPMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £100,500 in 2018/19, an increase of 5.1 per cent, which is statistically significant

Salaried GPs

  • The average income before tax for salaried GPs in Scotland in 2019/20 was £65,900 for those GPs working in either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) practice compared to £65,100 in 2018/19, an increase of 1.2 per cent, which is not statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for salaried GPs in Scotland in 2019/20 was £62,400 compared to £59,400 in 2018/19, an increase of 5 per cent.

Wales GP Average Earnings and Expenses Estimates

Combined GPs (Contractor and Salaried) GPs

No PMS contracts exist in Wales, so all results shown relate to GMS GPs only.

  • The average income before tax for combined GPs (contractor and salaried) in Wales in 2019/20 was £97,600 compared to £95,800 in 2018/19, an increase of 1.9 per cent which is not statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for combined GPs in Wales in 2019/20 was £94,300 compared to £93,300 in 2018/19, an increase of 1.1 per cent.

Contractor GPs

  • The average income before tax for contractor GPs in Wales in 2019/20 was £108,800 compared to £106,200 in 2018/19, an increase of 2.5 per cent which is not statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for contractor GPs in Wales in 2019/20 was £104,700 compared to £102,900 in 2018/19, an increase of 1.7 per cent.
  • The average gross earnings for contractor GPs in Wales in 2019/20 was £295,600 compared to £290,400 in 2018/19, an increase of 1.8 per cent.
  • The average total expenses for contractor GPs in Wales in 2019/20 was £186,800 compared to £184,200 in 2018/19, an increase of 1.4 per cent.
  • The expenses to earnings ratio for contractor GPs in Wales in 2019/20, which represents the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses, was 63.2 per cent, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points since 2018/19.
  • The average income before tax for dispensing and non-dispensing contractor GPs in Wales in 2019/20 was:
    • £112,600 for dispensing GPs compared to £116,400 in 2018/19, a decrease of 3.2 per cent, which is not statistically significant
    • £107,900 for non-dispensing GPs compared to £104,300 in 2018/19, an increase of 3.5 per cent, which is not statistically significant

Salaried GPs

  • The average income before tax for salaried GPs in Wales in 2019/20 was £60,800 compared to £58,400 in 2018/19, an increase of 4.1 per cent, which is not statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for salaried GPs in Wales in 2019/20 was £56,400 compared to £55,000 in 2018/19, an increase of 2.7 per cent.
Statistical significance explained

In the Main Findings, year-on-year differences between income before tax estimates have been tested for statistical significance at a 95 per cent confidence level. An increase or decrease in estimates that is statistically significant is likely to be a genuine change, rather than resulting from chance, and means that users can have greater confidence that any apparent differences are applicable to the entire population in question.

Statistical significance in this report relates only to the fact of an increase or decrease in average income before tax and does not consider the size of the change; in some cases, apparently large changes may not be statistically significant and vice versa.

Average gross earnings, total expenses and median income before tax figures have not been tested, as standard errors were not available. Throughout the rest of the report, results and comparisons have not been tested for statistical significance unless otherwise stated.

Standard errors to support the statistical significance of the income before tax results are available in the CSV files which supplement this report. In the accompanying interactive report, margins of error, which are calculated from the standard errors, are presented. The margin of error shows the maximum expected difference between the true average income before tax and the estimate presented, with a confidence level of 95 per cent.

Northern Ireland GP Average Earnings and Expenses Estimates

Combined GPs (Contractor and Salaried) GPs

No PMS contracts exist in Northern Ireland, so all results shown relate to GMS GPs only.

  • The average income before tax for combined GPs (contractor and salaried) in Northern Ireland in 2019/20 was £93,600 compared to £87,900 in 2018/19, an increase of 6.5per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for combined GPs in Northern Ireland in 2019/20 was £91,000 compared to £84,600 in 2017/18, an increase of 7.6 per cent.

Contractor GPs

  • The average income before tax for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2019/20 was £99,600 compared to £92,300 in 2018/19, an increase of 7.9 per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2019/20 was £97,000 compared to £88,600 in 2018/19, an increase of 9.4 per cent.
  • The average gross earnings for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2019/20 was £228,000 compared to £208,400 in 2018/19, an increase of 9.4 per cent.
  • The average total expenses for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2019/20 was £128,400 compared to £116,200 in 2018/19, an increase of 10.5 per cent.
  • The expenses to earnings ratio for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2019/20, which represents the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses, was 56.3 per cent, an increase of 0.6 percentage points since 2018/19.
  • The average income before tax for non-dispensing contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2019/20 was £99,600 compared to £92,100 in 2018/19, an increase of 8.2 per cent, which is statistically significant

Results are suppressed for Northern Ireland non-dispensing GPs due to small sample sizes.

Salaried GPs

  • The average income before tax for salaried GPs in Northern Ireland in 2019/20 was £56,500 compared to £55,100 in 2018/19, an increase of 2.6 per cent, which is not statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for salaried GPs in Northern Ireland in 2019/20 was £54,400 compared to £47,500 in 2018/19, an increase of 14.6 per cent.

Last edited: 22 August 2023 1:41 pm

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GPs included and how to interpret the results