National Insurance Primary Threshold: every value since 2000
The weekly pay above which employees start paying Class 1 National Insurance contributions.
HM Revenue and Customs gives 27 values for this rate, from £76 in 2000 to 2001 to £242 in 2026 to 2027. Of the 26 year-to-year steps, it stayed the same in 7, went up in 19 and never went down. The largest rise from one value to the next was +31.5%, in 2022 to 2023 (from £184 to £242). Across the whole series the cash value changed by +218.4%. The value in 2025 to 2026 was the same as the one before; ONS CPI inflation for calendar year 2025 was 3.4%. Ten years before the latest value, in 2016 to 2017, it was £155. National Insurance contributions receipts were £200.8 billion in 2025 to 2026, according to HMRC.
Primary Threshold
| Tax year | Primary Threshold (a week) | Change on previous value | CPI inflation that calendar year (ONS, D7G7) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 to 2027 | £242 | – | not yet published |
| 2025 to 2026 | £242 | – | 3.4% |
| 2024 to 2025 | £242 | – | 2.5% |
| 2023 to 2024 | £242 | – | 7.3% |
| 2022 to 2023 | £242 HMRC's table gives £190/ £242; more than one rate applied during this year; HMRC's table gives both | +31.5% | 9.1% |
| 2021 to 2022 | £184 | +0.5% | 2.6% |
| 2020 to 2021 | £183 | +10.2% | 0.9% |
| 2019 to 2020 | £166 | +2.5% | 1.8% |
| 2018 to 2019 | £162 | +3.2% | 2.5% |
| 2017 to 2018 | £157 | +1.3% | 2.7% |
| 2016 to 2017 | £155 | – | 0.7% |
| 2015 to 2016 | £155 | +1.3% | 0.0% |
| 2014 to 2015 | £153 | +2.7% | 1.5% |
| 2013 to 2014 | £149 | +2.1% | 2.6% |
| 2012 to 2013 | £146 | +5.0% | 2.8% |
| 2011 to 2012 | £139 | +26.4% | 4.5% |
| 2010 to 2011 | £110 | – | 3.3% |
| 2009 to 2010 | £110 | +4.8% | 2.2% |
| 2008 to 2009 | £105 | +5.0% | 3.6% |
| 2007 to 2008 | £100 | +3.1% | 2.3% |
| 2006 to 2007 | £97 | +3.2% | 2.3% |
| 2005 to 2006 | £94 | +3.3% | 2.1% |
| 2004 to 2005 | £91 | +2.2% | 1.3% |
| 2003 to 2004 | £89 | – | 1.4% |
| 2002 to 2003 | £89 | +2.3% | 1.3% |
| 2001 to 2002 | £87 | +14.5% | 1.2% |
| 2000 to 2001 | £76 | 0.8% |
Source: HMRC Table A.4.
CPI: ONS series D7G7, for the calendar year the period starts in. About these tables · CSV
Related pages
- Employee National Insurance rate
- Personal Allowance
- National Insurance Upper Earnings Limit
- National Insurance contributions receipts
- Inflation calculator
Sources and receipts
- Table A.4 Main features of National Insurance contributions, HM Revenue and Customs.
File: Table_a4_-_National_Insurance_Contributions_-_rates_and_allowances.ods. Read 2026-10-15. SHA-256
0928355419d32ea47fd79cc7e2774e59b3559f7cbcd0a954d4d7abc573ce744d - Consumer price inflation time series (MM23), Office for National Statistics.
File: mm23.csv. Read 2026-10-15. SHA-256
1b78749ea634755b83064d88f4fc6f7dd177e0c41d8b573c9d8172b8d3fff641