Business Analyst Contract Job Trends

Business Analyst (BA)
UK

The median Business Analyst (BA) daily rate in the UK is £500, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 28 October 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 60 44 49
Rank change year-on-year -16 +5 -13
Contract Business Analyst jobs 2,091 1,660 1,428
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.81% 4.89% 3.90%
As % of the Job Titles category 4.16% 5.38% 4.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,393 1,171 1,062
10th Percentile £363 £350 £358
25th Percentile £425 £406 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year - -3.85% -0.95%
75th Percentile £588 £613 £614
90th Percentile £659 £725 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +5.56% - -5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 31 13 12
10th Percentile £27.30 £25.36 £20.69
25th Percentile £35.94 £27.21 £38.21
Median hourly rate £66.90 £32.89 £58.25
Median % change year-on-year +103.41% -43.54% +9.39%
75th Percentile £90.00 £51.80 £75.94
90th Percentile £104.00 £88.25 £80.55
UK excluding London median hourly rate £72.25 £40.00 £34.80
% change year-on-year +80.63% +14.96% -42.01%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all contract IT job adverts they make up.

6 months to
28 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Contract job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title 50,268 30,832 34,004
% of contract job adverts matching a recognised job title 91.70% 90.90% 92.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,614 19,499 20,503
10th Percentile £325 £280 £300
25th Percentile £425 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £638 £620 £638
90th Percentile £738 £725 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4,176 1,712 1,309
10th Percentile £14.22 £13.84 £15.06
25th Percentile £18.75 £17.30 £20.30
Median hourly rate £41.00 £25.15 £39.50
Median % change year-on-year +63.02% -36.33% -12.22%
75th Percentile £68.00 £50.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £81.25 £69.43 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £25.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +60.00% -37.50% -10.11%

Business Analyst Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract Business Analyst job postings relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Business Analyst job vacancy trend in the UK

Business Analyst Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Business Analyst job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Business Analyst job vacancies in the UK

Business Analyst Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for Business Analyst jobs over the 6 months to 28 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Business Analyst in the UK

Business Analyst Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Business Analyst job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Business Analyst job vacancies in the UK

Business Analyst Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution for Business Analyst jobs over the 6 months to 28 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Business Analyst in the UK

Business Analyst Top 18 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in Business Analyst jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 28 October 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Job Ads
Past 6 Months
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -20 1,760 £504 +0.72% 173
London -18 1,020 £525 -4.55% 55
UK excluding London -7 861 £475 +5.56% 161
Work from Home -8 642 £500 - 93
North of England -22 241 £460 +11.52% 34
South East -2 188 £500 +5.26% 49
Midlands -13 161 £450 +12.50% 24
West Midlands +12 126 £450 -10.00% 19
North West -18 117 £450 +5.88% 18
Scotland +1 102 £463 +8.82% 7
South West +7 95 £489 +6.02% 18
Yorkshire -24 93 £463 +13.92% 8
East of England -5 35 £475 +5.50% 6
East Midlands -31 34 £460 +28.49% 5
Wales 0 32 £448 +2.29% 16
North East -22 32 £525 +31.09% 8
Northern Ireland +9 18 £425 -19.05% 6
Channel Islands - 2 £550 - 1

Business Analyst Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 28 October 2026, Business Analyst contract job ads cited the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract Business Analyst job ads.

RankSkillShareJob Ads
1Stakeholder Management42.3%885
2Business Analysis39.4%824
3Requirements Gathering36.5%763
4Agile33.0%691
5Workshop Facilitation32.6%682
6User Stories27.9%584
7Stakeholder Engagement20.6%430
8User Acceptance Testing19.6%410
9Acceptance Criteria18.3%383
10Problem-Solving13.6%285
11Process Improvement12.5%262
11SQL12.5%262
13Validation12.1%253
14Data Analysis11.8%247
15JIRA11.7%244
16Migration10.9%228
17AI10.8%225
18Decision-Making10.1%211
19Microsoft10.0%209
20Security Cleared9.6%200
21Data Modelling9.4%197
22Requirements Workshops9.1%190
23Confluence8.4%176
24Degree8.4%175
25Translating Business Requirements8.3%174
26GAP Analysis8.0%168
27Azure8.0%167
28SC Cleared7.9%166
29Impact Assessments7.8%164
30Project Delivery7.7%161

Business Analyst Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.