IT may come as a surprise, but half of you now earn at least £22,000 a year - or at least that's what new figures from the Office for National Statistics in Newport show.

Many in Gwent may find the figure a little on the high side even though it's hardly the stuff of Posh and Becks.

The mega-earnings of celebrities and sports stars are in stark contrast to Gwent workers.

Steelworker Terry and his wife Joy Edmonds from Nash between them, bring home £400 a week - but that's through wages, child benefit and family tax credit.

But with a family of nine children they have outgoings of around £25,000.

"Sometimes it has been hard to make ends meet," said Mrs Edmonds. "But we've been very happy."

The median salary for full time workers in Wales has risen by nearly five per cent according to the latest earnings survey.

The biggest earners come from the medical profession where the highest earners made just over £993 a week.

At the other end of the scale are those like shop assistants who take home £246 per week - £200 less than the median wage of £426.

The figures for Welsh workers pale in comparison to the multi-million pound earnings of celebrities and sports stars.

The world's highest paid footballer David Beckham earned a reputed £10.75 million in 2003, through his £100,000 a week salary with Real Madrid and lucrative product endorsements, while Oscar-winning Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones picked up £10.5 million last year, largely due to her role in Chicago.

But even they are in the shadow of Chepstow-educated JK Rowling, who earned a staggering £47 million following the success of her Harry Potter books.

Median annual pay for women increased by 5.3 per cent in 2004 to £18,531.