Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that total bonus payments in the year to April 2014 reached £40.5bn, a 4.9 per cent increase on the previous year.

Unsurprisingly a large chunk of this – £14.4bn – was accounted for by the finance and insurance industries. But in those sectors bonuses grew by an average of just 2.9 per cent, compared with 6.1 per cent growth in the rest of the economy.

Bonuses now represent 6 per cent of total pay in the UK, higher than last year but down from the 7.1 per cent seen just before the financial crisis.

The average private sector employee received just over £1,800 in bonuses, but in finance and insurance this figure is a whopping £13,300, an increase of £700 on the previous year.

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