Switzerland
Latest Average Wage
+7.1% · 5 years
$92,285
Country Comparison
Switzerland vs Iceland
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Switzerland
vs
Iceland
$92,2852025
Latest Average Wage
Iceland +9.0%
(vs Switzerland)
$100,6052025
+7.1%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Iceland +14.5 pts
(vs Switzerland)
+21.6%2025
+5.8%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Iceland +28.9 pts
(vs Switzerland)
+34.6%2025
1192024
Overall Price Level
Switzerland +7.0 index points
(vs Iceland)
1122024
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
Iceland
Latest Average Wage
+21.6% · 5 years
$100,605
Wage Milestones
Switzerland
10 Years Ago
$87,262 (2015)
Historical Peak
$92,285 (2025)
Latest Wage
$92,285 (2025)
Iceland
10 Years Ago
$74,730 (2015)
Historical Peak
$100,605 (2025)
Latest Wage
$100,605 (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)Iceland (ISL)
Overall
+7.0 index points
100
119vs112
Food
+10.0 index points
100
137vs127
Clothing
−6.0 index points
100
123vs129
Housing
+28.0 index points
100
119vs91
Health
−5.4 index points
100
94.5vs99.9
Transport
−10.0 index points
100
134vs144
Recreation
+8.0 index points
100
136vs128
Restaurants & Accommodation
+6.0 index points
100
140vs134
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Iceland's latest average wage is $100,605 for 2025, about 9.0% higher than Switzerland's $92,285 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. That is roughly $8,320 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Iceland shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against +0.1% for Switzerland. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +21.6% against +7.1%. 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: 119 for Switzerland against 91 for Iceland. That is a separation of 28.0 index points on the US=100 scale, with Switzerland on the higher side and Iceland on the lower one. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Health: Switzerland reads 94.5 and Iceland 99.9 for 2024, just 5.4 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Restaurants & Accommodation at 6.0 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Iceland's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $100,605 for 2025, moderately higher than Switzerland's $92,285 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 9.0% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $8,320 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. Both figures are expressed in USD PPP at constant 2025 prices, so they can be set side by side without any further conversion. Over ten years Switzerland recorded +5.8% and Iceland +34.6%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction. The wage milestones above show how each side arrived at its current level, year by year.
Wage Direction
The five-year direction is shared here: both series rise, with different momentum on each side. 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%. Iceland sits at the highest point of its series — $100,605 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +34.6%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +21.6% for Iceland against +7.1% for Switzerland, 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
Switzerland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 119, and Iceland's reads 112, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Switzerland leads in 5 of the 8 comparable categories and Iceland in 3, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Housing: 119 for Switzerland against 91 for Iceland, a gap of 28.0 index points. At the other end, Health brings the two closest — 94.5 versus 99.9, a gap of just 5.4 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Switzerland reads above 100 in 7 of its 8 reported categories, and Iceland in 6 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
