Switzerland
Latest Average Wage
+7.1% · 5 years
$92,285
Country Comparison
Switzerland vs Canada
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Switzerland
vs
Canada
$92,2852025
Latest Average Wage
Switzerland +35.9%
(vs Canada)
$67,9012025
+7.1%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Switzerland +7.4 pts
(vs Canada)
−0.3%2025
+5.8%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Switzerland +0.8 pts
(vs Canada)
+5.0%2025
1192024
Overall Price Level
Switzerland +33.0 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
Switzerland
10 Years Ago
$87,262 (2015)
Historical Peak
$92,285 (2025)
Latest Wage
$92,285 (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
Switzerland (CHE)Canada (CAN)
Overall
+33.0 index points
100
119vs86
Food
+29.0 index points
100
137vs108
Clothing
+5.0 index points
100
123vs118
Housing
+35.9 index points
100
119vs83.1
Health
+32.3 index points
100
94.5vs62.2
Transport
+31.0 index points
100
134vs103
Recreation
+44.0 index points
100
136vs92
Restaurants & Accommodation
+42.4 index points
100
140vs97.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Switzerland's latest average wage is $92,285 for 2025, about 35.9% higher than Canada's $67,901 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. Per year, that works out to roughly $24,384 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Canada shows the stronger movement at +0.2%, against +0.1% for Switzerland. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Switzerland at +7.1% 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
Recreation shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 136 for Switzerland against 92 for Canada. Switzerland sits on the higher side of that 44.0-point spread; Canada reads 44.0 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 Clothing: Switzerland reads 123 and Canada 118 for 2024, just 5.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Food at 29.0 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Few pairings separate this cleanly — Switzerland's latest average wage of $92,285 for 2025 stands well above Canada's $67,901 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 35.9% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $24,384 a year. No extra conversion is needed here: each figure is already a purchasing-power-adjusted annual amount in constant prices. 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 Switzerland recorded +5.8% and Canada +5.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
No single shared direction describes this pairing; each side follows its own recent path. Switzerland sits at the highest point of its series — $92,285 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +5.8%. Canada stands just below its historical high of $68,434 in 2021, only 0.8% away, with a ten-year change of +5.0%. With the five-year changes at +7.1% for Switzerland and −0.3% for Canada, the horizons are clearer when read side by side rather than folded into one trend statement. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Switzerland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 119, and Canada's reads 86, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Switzerland reads higher in 8 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Recreation: 136 for Switzerland against 92 for Canada, a gap of 44.0 index points. At the other end, Clothing brings the two closest — 123 versus 118, a gap of just 5.0 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Switzerland reads above 100 in 7 of its 8 reported categories, and Canada in 3 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
