Costviewa

Wage History Comparison

Compare how PPP-adjusted average annual wages have changed across OECD economies.

Select up to 6 countries

Country Selector

Selected countries

Wage History Chart

PPP-adjusted annual wage (USD)

$40,000$50,000$60,000$70,000$80,000201520172019202120232025

USD PPP, constant 2025 prices

Summary

Australia flagAustralia20152025$72,018+2.2%$73,8702021
Germany flagGermany20152025$76,285+7.1%$76,2852025
Japan flagJapan20152025$50,183−1.7%$52,6621997

  • Australia flagAustralia

    First / Latest year2015 – 2025
    Latest wage$72,018
    Change in range+2.2%
    Historical peak$73,870 (2021)

  • Germany flagGermany

    First / Latest year2015 – 2025
    Latest wage$76,285
    Change in range+7.1%
    Historical peak$76,285 (2025)

  • Japan flagJapan

    First / Latest year2015 – 2025
    Latest wage$50,183
    Change in range−1.7%
    Historical peak$52,662 (1997)

What the Chart Shows

This view compares 3 selected OECD economies over the trailing 10 years, shown in USD PPP wage values. Among the 3 selected economies, Germany has the highest latest average wage at $76,285 for 2025. The lowest of the group is Japan, at $50,183 for 2025 — 34.2% below Germany's figure, a gap of $26,102 in absolute terms. Between these two, Australia ($72,018) sits in the middle of the group. Among the countries with matching 2015–2025 coverage, Germany grew fastest over the selected range, at +7.1%. Australia follows at +2.2%, while Japan is the slowest of this comparable group at −1.7%. Of the 3 selected economies, Japan (−0.5%) saw a pullback in the latest reported year, with one-year changes below zero. Germany sits at or close to its historical peak in the latest reported year. The historical peak was recorded in Germany in 2025.

How to Read the Data

Wages shown here are PPP-adjusted average annual wages, expressed in USD PPP, constant 2025 prices. The purchasing power parity adjustment removes price level differences between economies, so the figures can be compared directly.

These are average wages, not median wages, and not the amount an individual worker receives in hand. Growth Index mode is built to compare the pace of change between economies — it does not represent an actual currency amount, only how far each series has moved from its common starting point. Different countries can also have different historical starting years in the underlying series, so a shorter series is not necessarily a smaller economy, only a shorter record.