Based on OECD forecasts, real wages in the UK – that’s pay taking into account inflation – are on course to fall by -0.5% by the end of 2018, the trade union said.

Real wage growth in other OECD countries will increase by an average of +2.6%.

Of the 32 countries analysed by the OECD, all but five will see wages increase in 2017.

Only Greece, Italy and Austria are set to fare worse than the UK in 2017 and 2018.

The TUC said UK real wages will be -6.8% lower in 2018 than they were in 2007 before the financial crisis. Greece and Italy are the only two countries to experience worse real wage loss since the crash.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, said: “British workers have endured the longest pay squeeze since Victorian times. And now even more pain is on the horizon.

“Britain badly needs a pay rise – and all the political parties must explain in their manifestos how they will boost living standards across the UK.

“A good start would be to scrap the unfair pay restrictions on public servants. It is disgraceful in the world’s sixth richest economy that nurses are having to use food banks to get by.”