The minister for women and equalities has today launched an online gender pay gap tool allowing individuals to find out the difference between male and female earnings by occupation.

Created by the Office for National Statistics using data from the annual survey of hours and earnings, it shows that at 18.1%, the gap in average pay between men and women for all employees is the lowest since records began.

However, there are big variations by industry. Construction and building trades supervisors have the highest gender pay gap in favour of men at 45.4% (men earn £14.74 per hour while women earn £8.05 per hour).

In finance – managers and directors – there’s a 36.5% difference (women earn £22.18 per hour, compared with men’s £34.93 per hour).

But female musicians, veterinarians and fitness instructors earn more than men with a difference of between 8% and 23%. In the midwifery sector, women earn 61.8% more than men – £18.84 compared with men’s hourly wage of £11.65.

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The online tool is launched as details of how large employers will have to report their gender pay and gender bonus pay gaps from next April have been published. The regulations, which will affect almost 8,000 employers with around 11 million employees, will shine a light on workplace practices that could be preventing women from reaching the top in their organisations.

Minister for women and equalities, Justine Greening, said: “Britain has the lowest gender pay gap on record, there are more women in work than ever before, more women-led businesses than ever before and there are now women on every board in the FTSE 100.

“But if we are to help women to reach their potential and eliminate the gender pay gap, we need to shine a light on our workplaces to see where there is more to do to. This tool will empower both men and women to challenge this issue in their profession and help people to make more informed decisions about their career.”

Greening added that employers must play their part and take action to tackle the gender pay gap in their organisation.

“That’s why we are requiring large employers to publish their gender pay and gender bonus pay gaps for the first time ever and our regulations mean they can start getting ready to report from April next year.”

It’s estimated that eliminating work-related gender gaps could add £150bn to the UK’s annual GDP in 2025.