Belgium
Latest Average Wage
+6.0% · 5 years
$80,009
Country Comparison
Belgium vs United Kingdom
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Belgium
vs
United Kingdom
$80,0092025
Latest Average Wage
Belgium +20.7%
(vs United Kingdom)
$66,2992025
+6.0%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Belgium +4.8 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+1.2%2025
+4.3%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Belgium +1.0 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+3.3%2025
77.52024
Overall Price Level
United Kingdom +6.8 index points
(vs Belgium)
84.32024
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
United Kingdom
Latest Average Wage
+1.2% · 5 years
$66,299
Wage Milestones
Belgium
10 Years Ago
$76,731 (2015)
Historical Peak
$80,009 (2025)
Latest Wage
$80,009 (2025)
United Kingdom
10 Years Ago
$64,199 (2015)
Historical Peak
$66,480 (2019)
Latest Wage
$66,299 (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)United Kingdom (GBR)
Overall
−6.8 index points
100
77.5vs84.3
Food
+4.8 index points
100
89.9vs85.1
Clothing
+9.3 index points
100
88.2vs78.9
Housing
−21.2 index points
100
74.2vs95.4
Health
−19.3 index points
100
52.8vs72.1
Transport
+3.0 index points
100
114vs111
Recreation
−4.5 index points
100
85.7vs90.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
+13.8 index points
100
101vs87.2
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Belgium's latest average wage is $80,009 for 2025, about 20.7% higher than United Kingdom's $66,299 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $13,710 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Belgium shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against +0.7% for United Kingdom. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +6.0% against +1.2%. 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 95.4 for United Kingdom. United Kingdom sits on the higher side of that 21.2-point spread; Belgium reads 21.2 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 Transport: Belgium reads 114 and United Kingdom 111 for 2024, just 3.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Recreation at 4.5 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
A clear separation shows in the latest wage figures — Belgium at $80,009 for 2025, and United Kingdom at $66,299 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 20.7% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $13,710 a year. 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 Belgium recorded +4.3% and United Kingdom +3.3%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
The five-year direction is shared here: both series rise, with different momentum on each side. 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%. United Kingdom stands just below its historical high of $66,480 in 2019, only 0.3% away, with a ten-year change of +3.3%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +6.0% for Belgium against +1.2% for United Kingdom, 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
Belgium's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 77.5, and United Kingdom's reads 84.3, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Belgium leads in 4 of the 8 comparable categories and United Kingdom in 4, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Housing: 74.2 for Belgium against 95.4 for United Kingdom, a gap of 21.2 index points. At the other end, Transport brings the two closest — 114 versus 111, a gap of just 3.0 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Belgium reads above 100 in 2 of its 8 reported categories, and United Kingdom in 1 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
