Australia
Latest Average Wage
−1.4% · 5 years
$72,018
Country Comparison
Australia vs Canada
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Australia
vs
Canada
$72,0182025
Latest Average Wage
Australia +6.1%
(vs Canada)
$67,9012025
−1.4%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Canada +1.2 pts
(vs Australia)
−0.3%2025
+2.2%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Canada +2.8 pts
(vs Australia)
+5.0%2025
92.72024
Overall Price Level
Australia +6.7 index points
(vs Canada)
862024
Wages are PPP-adjusted average annual wages; price levels use the United States reference of 100. Years shown are each country's latest reported observation.
How Wages Have Changed
Follow PPP-adjusted average annual wages in constant prices across both economies.
USD PPP, constant prices · missing years shown as gaps, never interpolated
Canada
Latest Average Wage
−0.3% · 5 years
$67,901
Wage Milestones
Australia
10 Years Ago
$70,450 (2015)
Historical Peak
$73,870 (2021)
Latest Wage
$72,018 (2025)
Canada
10 Years Ago
$64,667 (2015)
Historical Peak
$68,434 (2021)
Latest Wage
$67,901 (2025)
Compare Everyday Price Levels
See how eight consumer price categories compare with the United States reference value of 100.
United States = 100 · Differences shown in index points
Australia (AUS)Canada (CAN)
Overall
+6.7 index points
100
92.7vs86
Food
−7.0 index points
100
101vs108
Clothing
−48.5 index points
100
69.5vs118
Housing
+8.7 index points
100
91.8vs83.1
Health
+24.7 index points
100
86.9vs62.2
Transport
−3.7 index points
100
99.3vs103
Recreation
+3.2 index points
100
95.2vs92
Restaurants & Accommodation
+17.4 index points
100
115vs97.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Australia's latest average wage is $72,018 for 2025, about 6.1% higher than Canada's $67,901 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $4,118 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Australia shows the stronger movement at +1.1%, against +0.2% for Canada. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Australia at −1.4% and Canada at −0.3% — so the latest year is not the whole story. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Clothing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 69.5 for Australia against 118 for Canada. Canada sits on the higher side of that 48.5-point spread; Australia reads 48.5 index points lower on the US=100 scale. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Recreation: Australia reads 95.2 and Canada 92 for 2024, just 3.2 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Transport at 3.7 index points apart. Two readings this close mean the category sits at nearly the same point of the US=100 scale for both.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Australia's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $72,018 for 2025, moderately higher than Canada's $67,901 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 6.1% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $4,118 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. Because both values already sit on the same USD PPP, constant-2025-price footing, the comparison adjusts for price-level differences between the two economies. For scale, neither series has moved by that much within any single reported year, so the gap is structural rather than the product of one unusual observation. Over ten years Australia recorded +2.2% and Canada +5.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
The two wage series do not point the same way across the reported horizons. Australia shows no single direction across horizons: +1.1% over one year against −1.4% over five. Canada stands just below its historical high of $68,434 in 2021, only 0.8% away, with a ten-year change of +5.0%. The five-year changes — −1.4% for Australia, −0.3% for Canada — resist a single-trend summary and are clearer read side by side. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Australia's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 92.7, and Canada's reads 86, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Australia leads in 5 of the 8 comparable categories and Canada in 3, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. Clothing separates the two most: Australia reads 69.5 and Canada 118, 48.5 index points apart. The two sit closest in Recreation (95.2 versus 92), only 3.2 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 2 of Australia's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 3 of Canada's 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
