Transparency data

Defra gender pay gap report 2025

Published 16 December 2025

Applies to England

Executive summary

Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our food and farming industry and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people’s day-to-day lives, developing policies and services that impact people across the UK and beyond.

Defra is committed to being an equitable, diverse, and inclusive organisation, where every individual has equality of opportunity to progress and can thrive in a supportive environment. Our Defra group Equality Objectives 2024 to 2026 - GOV.UK reaffirms this commitment. Our gender pay gap reporting considers how well we achieve gender equality in our pay structures. This report provides gender pay gap information for the year ending 31 March 2025, with comparable information since 2017.

It is disappointing to report that compared to 2024, the mean gender pay gap has increased by 0.5pp (percentage points) to 4.3%. However, we are pleased to report that the median gender pay gap has decreased by 1.6pp to 7.1%. Analysis of Defra’s workforce shows that the percentage of women in Defra’s workforce increased to 57.1% in 2025 from 56.4% in 2024. The percentage of women in the upper quartile (representing the top 25% of earners) has decreased by 0.5pp from 52.5% in 2024 to 52.0% in 2025.

Despite the progress made through our ongoing actions we know that there is still more that we can do to close our gender pay gap. Defra will continue to uphold our commitment to developing and driving forward practices and policies, which we know make a difference in closing the gender pay gap by achieving gender parity at all grades. The cross-Defra Gender Board will continue to work collaboratively across the group to understand the drivers behind this year’s increased gap. The board will consider how best to refine actions to reduce the gap in future years’, while promoting gender equality, supporting career progression, and removing barriers through inclusive and targeted initiatives.

We have reviewed our inclusive recruitment panels, built line manager capability in workplace adjustments, and continued to raise awareness of menopause in the workplace. We are confident that continuing to break down barriers to inclusion will positively impact the everyday lived experiences of women in Defra and help drive meaningful culture change across the organisation.

Our commitment to close the gender pay gap speaks to a broader agenda of inclusion and we look forward to further progressing this goal as part of an ambitious strategy to achieve equality in the workplace.

Iain King - Defra group Gender Champion

Introduction

The Gender Pay Gap legislation was introduced in April 2017, requiring all employers of 250 or more employees to publish their gender pay gap annually for workers in scope as of 31st March.

The gender pay gap is the difference in the average pay between all men and all women in the organisation. It is different to equal pay, which is about the difference in the actual earnings of men and women doing equal work (or work of equal value).

The gender pay gap is measured using a few different calculations, including:

• the mean and median hourly gender pay gap
• the mean and median gender bonus pay gaps
• the proportions of men and women receiving bonuses
• the proportions of men and women in each pay quartile

The mean gender pay gap is the difference between the mean hourly rate of male full-pay relevant employees and that of female full-pay relevant employees.

The median gender pay gap is the difference between the median hourly rate of pay of male full-pay relevant employees and that of female full-pay relevant employees.

The bonus pay gap measures payments to reward performance that are as part of the annual pay award (as a proportion of basic pay) or throughout the year as either cash or gift vouchers. The mean bonus value is found by adding all bonus values together and dividing the total by how many people were paid. The median is the middle value if all bonuses were stacked from lowest to highest. It’s important to note some bonus payments such as end of year performance awards are pro-rated for part time workers which can influence bonus pay gaps.

Notes

‘Full-pay relevant employee’ means a relevant employee who is not, during the relevant pay period, being paid at a reduced rate or nil as a result of the employee being on leave, The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. Throughout this report, references to employees or gender profile includes full-pay relevant employees only.

The ‘relevant pay period’, in relation to the relevant employee, means (a) the period in respect of which the relevant employer pays the employee basic pay, whether weekly, fortnightly, or monthly or any other period, or (b) if the relevant employer does not pay the employee basic pay, the period in respect of which the employer most frequently pays the employee one of the elements of ordinary pay mentioned in regulation 3(1) (b) to (e), The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Defra Civil Service pay gap reporting includes the core government department and its executive agencies; Rural Payments Agency (RPA), Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS). All references to Defra in this paper refer to Defra and its executive agencies.

Summary

Gender Pay Gap reporting is a statutory requirement and government guidance indicates that employers should take information as to gender from payroll or HR records. The Defra group gender pay gap report is therefore based on the information we hold on our payroll records.

This summary page includes mean and median pay figures, proportions of men and women receiving bonuses, proportions of men and women in each pay quartile and the overall makeup of women in Defra Civil Service in addition to female Senior Civil Service (SCS) representation. The figures include rounding.

Gender pay gap

• 4.3% mean
• 7.1% median

Proportion of men and women receiving bonuses

• female: 87.4%
• male: 86.3%

Gender bonus gap

• 2.4% mean
• 4.0% median

Pay by quartiles

Lower quartile:

• women: 60%

• men: 40%

Lower middle quartile:

• women: 59%

• men: 41%

Upper middle quartile:

• women: 56%

• men: 44%

Upper quartile:

• women: 52%

• men: 48%

Workforce

• 57.1% of Defra’s workforce are women
• 51.1% of Defra’s SCS are women

Defra’s gender profile

Our percentage of female employees (gender profile) is 57.1% and has remained consistent when compared to previous years. It also continues to be higher than the Civil Service average of 54.6% female. The percentage of women within Defra’s SCS is 51.1%, whilst the overall Civil Service female SCS representation is 49.2%.

Overall, there are more women than men at all grades in Defra with the exception of Grade 6 where the headcount of women and men is equal. Female representation at SCS has marginally decreased from 51.2% in the previous reporting period to 51.1% in this reporting period.

Defra uses Civil Service grades ranging from Administrative Assistants (administrative level grade) to SCS (executive level grade). Grades vary according to the level of responsibility, and each grade has a set pay range. Employees are subject to an annual pay review and pay increases on promotion.

The following table shows the distribution of female and male employees by grade from junior to senior roles in Defra.

Table 1: Defra’s workforce split by grade and gender

Grade (increasing in seniority)	Number of women	Women as % of workforce at this grade	Number of men	Men as % of workforce at this grade
AA/AO	1452	60.7	939	39.3
EO	1330	60.7	861	39.3
HEO	1523	58.0	1101	42.0
SEO	1731	56.8	1318	43.2
G7	1380	53.2	1214	46.8
G6	427	50.0	427	50.0
SCS	122	51.1	117	48.9
Unknown	6	50.0	6	50.0
Grand total*	7971	57.1	5983	42.9

*Figures include unknown grades and include rounding

In comparison, the following table shows the overall representation of women at each grade in the Civil Service taken from the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Dashboard, 2025.

Table 2: Representation of women in the Civil Service

Women at each grade in the Civil Service	Representation (%)
AA/AO	55.1
EO	56.3
HEO/SEO	52.9
G6 and G7	50.2
SCS	49.2
Women in the Civil Service overall	54.6 (2025)

Defra’s gender pay gap over time

Table 3: Defra Civil Service mean and median pay gaps (2017-2025)

Defra Civil Service	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Difference from 2024 (pp)
Mean Gender Pay Gap (%)	11.5	9.8	8.4	7.2	6.7	5.6	6.6	3.8	4.3	0.5 pp
Median Gender Pay Gap (%)	12.1	11.7	9.4	7.4	6.8	6.6	11	8.7	7.1	1.6 pp

Table 4: Defra Civil Service bonus pay gaps (2017-2025)

This covers bonus pay in 12 months ending 31 March.

Year	Mean Gender Pay Gap (%)	Median Gender Pay Gap (%)	Percentage (%) of male employees paid a bonus	Percentage (%) of female employees paid a bonus
2017	20.6	16.7	47	45
2018	10	19	39	35
2019	11.6	14.2	49	47
2020	12.3	20	57	58
2021	10.6	0	67	67
2022	7.6	1.4	70.8	70.3
2023	5.9	-12.8	76.3	78.2
2024	5.5	0	75.6	76.1
2025	-2.4	-4.0	86.3	87.4
Difference from 2024 (pp)	7.9pp	4.0pp	10.7pp	11.3pp

Analysis of Gender Pay Gap Data

Ordinary pay Gender Pay Gap analysis

This year the Defra group mean gender pay gap has increased to 4.3%, which is an increase of 0.5 percentage points (pp) from 2024 and a decrease of 7.2pp since gender pay gap reporting began in 2017. The Defra group mean pay gap is lower than the 2025 Civil Service gender pay gap which is 6.9%.

The median pay gap has decreased by 1.6pp from 8.7% in 2024 to 7.1% in 2025. The Defra median gender pay gap is slightly higher than that of the overall Civil Service of 6.4%. The increase in the mean gender pay gap could be driven by a 1.3pp increase in the percentage of women in the lowest quartile from 59.0% in 2024 to 60.3% in 2025. There has also a 0.5pp decrease in the percentage of women in the upper quartile from 52.5% in 2024 to 52.0% in 2025.

Bonus Gender Gap analysis

The mean bonus pay gap is -2.4% (favouring women), which is a change of 7.9pp from 2024 where the mean bonus pay gap was 5.5% (favouring men). The median bonus gap has increased by 4pp from 0% in 2024 to -4.0% (favouring women) in 2025.

For the 2025 gender pay gap report, Special Thanks and Recognitions (STaR) vouchers are also included in the bonus calculation. Given that STaR rewards reach more recipients than In-Year Rewards (IYR), this has led to a notable shift in reported values compared to last year.

In comparison to the previous years, there has been an increase in bonus payments for both men and women with 86.3% of male staff receiving bonuses and 87.4% of female staff receiving bonuses.

Table 5: Percentage of men and women in each pay quartile 2017-2025

Pay by quartiles	2017 Male %	2017 Female %	2018 Male %	2018 Female %	2019 Male %	2019 Female %	2020 Male %	2020 Female %	2021 Male %	2021 Female %	2022 Male %	2022 Female %	2023 Male %	2023 Female %	2024 Male %	2024 Female %	2025 Male %	2025 Female %
Lower quartile	36	64	36	64	37	63	38	62	37	63	39	61	40	60	41	59	40	60
Lower middle	43	57	43	57	43	57	43	57	44	56	42	58	42	58	41	59	41	59
Upper middle	50	50	47	53	46	54	45	55	45	55	45	55	44	56	45	55	44	56
Upper quartile	57	43	55	45	52	48	51	49	50	50	49	51	50	50	48	53	48	52

Note: table includes rounding of figures to nearest whole number.

Taking action to close the gender pay gap and support colleagues going through the menopause

Defra aspires alongside other Civil Service organisations to be an inclusive employer. We are working to close our gender pay gap and support colleagues going through the menopause by delivering a number of initiatives through our Defra group Roadmap 2024 to 2026 - GOV.UK and through the cross Defra group Gender Board.

To close our gender pay gaps, we remain committed to developing and progressing our actions to achieve equitable gender representation at all grades. In Defra, this is overseen by the Gender Board, which is a chaired by an Executive Committee champion.

The Gender Board has supported and driven evidence-based and targeted actions, which address the gender pay gap by improving equality, promoting collaborative working and removing barriers to progression.

Defra Civil Service organisations will continue to undertake actions to close the gender pay gap, including:

• embedding inclusive practices in our attraction, recruitment, and selection processes, through using the inclusive panel guidance, name-blind external applications, success profiles and promoting flexible working and job-sharing opportunities

• supporting career development through targeted learning and training opportunities, including mentoring (Crossing Thresholds) and talent schemes to remove barriers to progression and achieve equitable gender representation across all grades. To support progression into senior roles, we offer targeted development programmes such as Top Flight and Women’s Leadership

• our Staff Diversity networks offer networking and peer-support opportunities. We actively listen and amplify employee voices through our diversity staff networks, safe space and listening circle experiences

• ensuring transparent and consistent workplace policies focusing on workplace equality, including blended working, workplace adjustments, shared parental leave, menstruation and menopause, breastfeeding, fertility treatment, pregnancy loss and Neonatal Care leave

• demonstrating our commitment to fair treatment and inclusive cultures in the workplace by becoming a Disability Confident (Level 3) Leader and achieving Carer Confident (Level 2) status

• building capability and awareness of workplace equality, diversity, and inclusion, for all employees through the line manager EDI awareness sessions, workplace adjustments information sessions for line managers and mandatory completion of the Civil Service expectations learning training

• continuing to report internally on reward and recognition on a quarterly basis to ensure fairness and consistency

• using Equality Impact Assessments, to ensure that Defra considers any impacts of organisational change on women and those with other protected characteristics

Defra Civil Service organisations will continue to support colleagues going through the menopause by:

• building organisational awareness of menopause through information sessions and sharing lived experiences

• improving line manager awareness of reasonable adjustments for employees going through the menopause using the Workplace Adjustments Hub and the employee passport

• The Menopause and Menstruation Policy supports employees and line managers to foster a culture of positive menstrual health and menopause awareness. The policy is underpinned by education, inclusive discussions, and compassionate management. The policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it reflects best practice and continues to meet the needs of those employees going through the menopause

• facilitating access to menopause support and wellbeing resources including Occupational Health, Champion Health, Headspace and Pause for Chat peer support sessions

Declaration

We confirm that data reported by Defra is accurate and has been calculated according to the requirements and methodology set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.

Paul Kissack
Defra group Permanent Secretary