Belgium
Latest Average Wage
+6.0% · 5 years
$80,009
Country Comparison
Belgium vs Austria
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Belgium
vs
Austria
$80,0092025
Latest Average Wage
Belgium +2.2%
(vs Austria)
$78,3012025
+6.0%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Belgium +2.7 pts
(vs Austria)
+3.3%2025
+4.3%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Austria +1.3 pts
(vs Belgium)
+5.5%2025
77.52024
Overall Price Level
Belgium +0.4 index points
(vs Austria)
77.12024
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
Austria
Latest Average Wage
+3.3% · 5 years
$78,301
Wage Milestones
Belgium
10 Years Ago
$76,731 (2015)
Historical Peak
$80,009 (2025)
Latest Wage
$80,009 (2025)
Austria
10 Years Ago
$74,198 (2015)
Historical Peak
$78,301 (2025)
Latest Wage
$78,301 (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
Belgium (BEL)Austria (AUT)
Overall
+0.4 index points
100
77.5vs77.1
Food
−3.9 index points
100
89.9vs93.8
Clothing
−7.0 index points
100
88.2vs95.2
Housing
+11.9 index points
100
74.2vs62.3
Health
−9.9 index points
100
52.8vs62.7
Transport
−1.0 index points
100
114vs115
Recreation
−10.1 index points
100
85.7vs95.8
Restaurants & Accommodation
+10.8 index points
100
101vs90.2
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Belgium's latest average wage is $80,009 for 2025, about 2.2% higher than Austria's $78,301 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $1,707 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Belgium shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against +0.8% for Austria. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +6.0% against +3.3%. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Housing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 74.2 for Belgium against 62.3 for Austria. Belgium sits on the higher side of that 11.9-point spread; Austria reads 11.9 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 Overall: Belgium reads 77.5 and Austria 77.1 for 2024 — effectively the same relative price level 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
Belgium and Austria report nearly the same PPP-adjusted average annual wage: $80,009 for 2025, against $78,301 for 2025. The difference is 2.2% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $1,707 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 Belgium recorded +4.3% and Austria +5.5%, 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
Both wage series rise over the five-year horizon, though not at the same pace. Belgium sits at the highest point of its series — $80,009 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +4.3%. 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%. Belgium's five-year change of +6.0% outpaces Austria's +3.3% in magnitude, so the common direction does not mean the two levels are holding a fixed distance. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Belgium's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 77.5, and Austria's reads 77.1, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Belgium leads in 2 of the 8 comparable categories and Austria in 5, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. Housing separates the two most: Belgium reads 74.2 and Austria 62.3, 11.9 index points apart. The two sit closest in Overall (77.5 versus 77.1), only 0.4 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 2 of Belgium's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of Austria's 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
