Austria
Latest Average Wage
+3.3% · 5 years
$78,301
Country Comparison
Austria vs Germany
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Austria
vs
Germany
$78,3012025
Latest Average Wage
Austria +2.6%
(vs Germany)
$76,2852025
+3.3%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Austria +1.3 pts
(vs Germany)
+2.0%2025
+5.5%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Germany +1.5 pts
(vs Austria)
+7.1%2025
77.12024
Overall Price Level
Austria +5.6 index points
(vs Germany)
71.52024
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
Germany
Latest Average Wage
+2.0% · 5 years
$76,285
Wage Milestones
Austria
10 Years Ago
$74,198 (2015)
Historical Peak
$78,301 (2025)
Latest Wage
$78,301 (2025)
Germany
10 Years Ago
$71,244 (2015)
Historical Peak
$76,285 (2025)
Latest Wage
$76,285 (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
Austria (AUT)Germany (DEU)
Overall
+5.6 index points
100
77.1vs71.5
Food
+5.1 index points
100
93.8vs88.7
Clothing
+4.8 index points
100
95.2vs90.4
Housing
−1.8 index points
100
62.3vs64.1
Health
+12.0 index points
100
62.7vs50.7
Transport
+1.0 index points
100
115vs114
Recreation
+9.2 index points
100
95.8vs86.6
Restaurants & Accommodation
−0.9 index points
100
90.2vs91.1
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Austria's latest average wage is $78,301 for 2025, about 2.6% higher than Germany's $76,285 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $2,017 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Germany shows the stronger movement at +1.9%, against +0.8% for Austria. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Austria at +3.3% and Germany at +2.0% — 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
Health shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 62.7 for Austria against 50.7 for Germany. Austria sits on the higher side of that 12.0-point spread; Germany reads 12.0 index points lower on the US=100 scale. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Restaurants & Accommodation: Austria reads 90.2 and Germany 91.1 for 2024, just 0.9 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Transport at 1.0 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Austria and Germany report nearly the same PPP-adjusted average annual wage: $78,301 for 2025, against $76,285 for 2025. The difference is 2.6% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $2,017 a year, which is small next to either figure. 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. Over ten years Austria recorded +5.5% and Germany +7.1%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction. For most side-by-side readings the two wage levels can be treated as equivalent within this dataset.
Wage Direction
The five-year direction is shared here: both series rise, with different momentum on each side. Austria sits at the highest point of its series — $78,301 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +5.5%. Germany sits at the highest point of its series — $76,285 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +7.1%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +3.3% for Austria against +2.0% for Germany, so the distance between the two levels keeps shifting. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Austria's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 77.1, and Germany's reads 71.5, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Austria reads higher in 6 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Health: 62.7 for Austria against 50.7 for Germany, a gap of 12.0 index points. At the other end, Restaurants & Accommodation brings the two closest — 90.2 versus 91.1, a gap of just 0.9 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Austria reads above 100 in 1 of its 8 reported categories, and Germany in 1 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
