20 Payroll Statistics HR Managers Need to Know in 2025

Did you know?

• There were 30.4 million payrolled employees as of November 2024. This is a rise of 76,000 employees over the 12-month period.
• Printed payslips continued to drop, falling by 8% in 2024. 
• Around two-thirds of UK SMEs are expected to outsource their payroll this year, which means that payroll year end (PYE) is likely handled by an expert like an accountant or payroll bureau.
• Around one-third of businesses manage payroll in house. That’s almost 470,000 businesses. 
• 76% of professionals still need up to a week to complete a pay run 

Payroll Statistics for 2025

Pay cycle statistics 

• Monthly pay remains the most common pay frequency with 97% operating on monthly payroll.
• Friday remains the most popular payday for weekly, fortnightly and 4-weekly payrolls. 
• The most common payday continues to be the last working day of the month. 
• ​​BACS is still the most popular payment method, with 87% of businesses using it. 
• One third of payroll professionals have no back up for BACS. 

Payroll errors statistics

• Over 90% of UK businesses admit making payroll errors monthly. It’s expected that they lose up to £150,000 a year through payroll mistakes.
• 25% of UK PAYE employees have received incorrect paycheques from their employers. 
• 46% of these payroll mistakes arose from human error when calculating the employee’s wages.
• Almost half (46%) of UK employees said they missed a bill payment due to inaccurate payroll. 

Payroll compliance statistics

• Compliance with the Employment Right Act’s (ERA) right to an itemised pay statement has increased, now reaching 91%. 
• Compliance around full payment submission (FPS) for pay day reporting has increased by more than 10%. 

Payroll tech statistics

• 57% of employees don’t use any tools to help employees understand their payslip.  
• The number of payroll professionals that store all payroll records electronically is still increasing with a further rise of 8%. 
• On average payroll providers are only automating 31-50% of their payroll services. 
• 24% of payroll providers want every single payroll task automated. 

Get the most out of payroll with Employment Hero

Judging by these payroll stats, it’s clear that the way in which businesses conduct their payroll is changing, and resisting automated processes could be costly. So, if you want to avoid being in the 90% of businesses that make payroll mistakes monthly, it might be time to consider doing payroll differently.  Employment Hero is the world’s first Employment OS (Operating System). Our powerful solution to employment helps businesses to find and hire top talent using SmartMatch, seamlessly onboard new hires, automate complex payroll, and drive employee engagement and morale.  Spend less time on admin and worrying about compliance, so you can spend more time on the things that really matter – your people.  To reduce payroll errors and back your system with the power of AI, get in touch with our team today.