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Publication, Part of

GP Earnings and Expenses Estimates, 2020/21

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 2020/21 was £111,900 for those GPs working in either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) practice compared to £100,700 in 2019/20, an increase of 11.1 per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for combined GPs in England in 2020/21 was £101,200 compared to £92,300 in 2019/20, an increase of 9.6 per cent.

Contractor GPs

  • The average income before tax for contractor GPs in England in 2020/21 was:
    • £141,500 for those GPs working under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract compared to £121,200 in 2019/20, an increase of 16.7 per cent which is statistically significant
    • £143,400 for those GPs working under a Primary Medical Services (PMS) contract compared to £123,300 in 2019/20, an increase of 16.3 per cent which is statistically significant
    • £142,000 for those GPs working under either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) contract, a statistically significant increase of 16.6 per cent from £121,800 in 2019/20
  • The median income before tax for GPMS contractor GPs in England in 2020/21 was £132,700 compared to £114,400 in 2019/20, an increase of 16.1 per cent.
  • The average gross earnings for GPMS contractor GPs in England in 2020/21 was £438,700 compared to £402,600 in 2019/20, an increase of 9.0 per cent.
  • The average total expenses for GPMS contractor GPs in England in 2020/21 was £296,700 compared to £280,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 5.7 per cent.
  • The expenses to earnings ratio for GPMS contractor GPs in England  in 2020/21, which represents the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses, was 67.6 per cent, a decrease of 2.1 percentage points since 2019/20.
  • The average income before tax for dispensing and non-dispensing contractor GPs in England in 2020/21 was:
    • £151,900 for GMS dispensing GPs compared to £126,300 in 2019/20, an increase of 20.2 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £138,900 for GMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £120,000 in 2019/20, an increase of 15.8 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £152,700 for PMS dispensing GPs compared to £125,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 21.4 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £142,000 for PMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £122,900 in 2019/20, an increase of 15.5 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £152,000 for GPMS dispensing GPs compared to £126,200 in 2019/20, an increase of 20.4 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £139,700 for GPMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £120,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 15.7 per cent, which is statistically significant

Salaried GPs

  • The average income before tax for salaried GPs in England in 2020/21 was £64,900 for those GPs working in either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) practice compared to £63,600 in 2019/20, an increase of 2.0 per cent, which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for salaried GPs in England in 2020/21 was £59,700 compared to £59,500 in 2019/20, an increase of 0.4 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 2020/21 was £107,700 for those GPs working in either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) practice compared to £99,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 7.9 per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for combined GPs in Scotland in 2020/21 was £104,400 compared to £97,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 6.7 per cent.

Contractor GPs

  • The average income before tax for contractor GPs in Scotland in 2020/21 was:
    • £114,800 for those GPs working under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract compared to £105,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 8.6 per cent which is statistically significant
    • £120,300 for those GPs working under a Primary Medical Services (PMS) contract compared to £108,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 10.5 per cent which is statistically significant
    • £115,400 for those GPs working under either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) contract, a statistically significant increase of 8.8 per cent from £106,100 in 2019/20
  • The median income before tax for GPMS contractor GPs in Scotland in 2020/21 was £111,900 compared to £103,200 in 2019/20, an increase of 8.4 per cent.
  • The average gross earnings for GPMS contractor GPs in Scotland in 2020/21 was £255,600 compared to £241,100 in 2019/20, an increase of 6.0 per cent.
  • The average total expenses for GPMS contractor GPs in Scotland in 2020/21 was £140,200 compared to £135,000 in 2019/20, an increase of 3.9 per cent.
  • The expenses to earnings ratio for GPMS contractor GPs in Scotland in 2020/21, which represents the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses, was 54.9 per cent, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points since 2019/20.
  • The average income before tax for dispensing and non-dispensing contractor GPs in Scotland in 2020/21 was:
    • £123,000 for GMS dispensing GPs compared to £116,700 in 2019/20, an increase of 5.3 per cent, which is not statistically significant
    • £114,400 for GMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £105,200 in 2019/20, an increase of 8.7 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £117,400 for PMS dispensing GPs compared to £106,000 in 2019/20, an increase of 10.7 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £120,800 for PMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £109,300 in 2019/20, an increase of 10.5 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £121,400 for GPMS dispensing GPs compared to £113,600 in 2019/20, an increase of 6.9 per cent, which is statistically significant
    • £115,000 for GPMS non-dispensing GPs compared to £105,700 in 2019/20, an increase of 8.9 per cent, which is statistically significant

Salaried GPs

  • The average income before tax for salaried GPs in Scotland in 2020/21 was £72,300 for those GPs working in either a GMS or PMS (GPMS) practice compared to £65,900 in 2019/20, an increase of 9.8 per cent, which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for salaried GPs in Scotland in 2020/21 was £66,200 compared to £62,400 in 2019/20, an increase of 6.1 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 2020/21 was £108,800 compared to £97,600 in 2019/20, an increase of 11.5 per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for combined GPs in Wales in 2020/21 was £106,000 compared to £94,300 in 2019/20, an increase of 12.4 per cent.

Contractor GPs

  • The average income before tax for contractor GPs in Wales in 2020/21 was £122,500 compared to £108,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 12.5 per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for contractor GPs in Wales in 2020/21 was £118,100 compared to £104,700 in 2019/20, an increase of 12.8 per cent.
  • The average gross earnings for contractor GPs in Wales in 2020/21 was £317,300 compared to £295,600 in 2019/20, an increase of 7.4 per cent.
  • The average total expenses for contractor GPs in Wales in 2020/21 was £194,900 compared to £186,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 4.4 per cent.
  • The expenses to earnings ratio for contractor GPs in Wales in 2020/21, which represents the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses, was 61.4 per cent, a decrease of 1.8 percentage points since 2019/20.
  • The average income before tax for dispensing and non-dispensing contractor GPs in Wales in 2020/21 was:
    • £130,500 for dispensing GPs compared to £112,600 in 2019/20, an increase of 15.9 per cent, which is statistically significant.
    • £120,600 for non-dispensing GPs compared to £107,900 in 2019/20, an increase of 11.8 per cent, which is statistically significant.

Salaried GPs

  • The average income before tax for salaried GPs in Wales in 2020/21 was £65,700 compared to £60,800 in 2019/20, an increase of 8.1 per cent, which is not statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for salaried GPs in Wales in 2020/21 was £60,300 compared to £56,400 in 2019/20, an increase of 6.8 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 2020/21 was £104,500 compared to £93,600 in 2019/20, an increase of 11.7 per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for combined GPs in Northern Ireland in 2020/21 was £101,400 compared to £91,000 in 2019/20, an increase of 11.5 per cent.

Contractor GPs

  • The average income before tax for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2020/21 was £112,000 compared to £99,600 in 2019/20, an increase of 12.5 per cent which is statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2020/21 was £108,600 compared to £97,000 in 2019/20, an increase of 12.0 per cent.
  • The average gross earnings for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2020/21 was £246,800 compared to £228,000 in 2019/20, an increase of 8.2 per cent.
  • The average total expenses for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2020/21 was £134,800 compared to £128,400 in 2019/20, an increase of 5.0 per cent.
  • The expenses to earnings ratio for contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2020/21, which represents the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses, was 54.6 per cent, a decrease of 1.7 percentage points since 2019/20.
  • The average income before tax for non-dispensing contractor GPs in Northern Ireland in 2020/21 was £111,700 compared to £99,600 in 2019/20, an increase of 12.1 per cent, which is statistically significant

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

Salaried GPs

  • The average income before tax for salaried GPs in Northern Ireland in 2020/21 was £61,300 compared to £56,500 in 2019/20, an increase of 8.5 per cent, which is not statistically significant.
  • The median income before tax for salaried GPs in Northern Ireland in 2020/21 was £56,100 compared to £54,400 in 2019/20, an increase of 3.1 per cent.


Last edited: 22 August 2023 1:50 pm