Chile
Latest Average Wage
+6.1% · 5 years
$40,626
Country Comparison
Chile vs Japan
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Chile
vs
Japan
$40,6262023
Latest Average Wage
Japan +23.5%
(vs Chile)
$50,1832025
+6.1%2023
5-Year Wage Change
Chile +8.3 pts
(vs Japan)
−2.2%2025
−6.1%2023
10-Year Wage Change
Japan +4.4 pts
(vs Chile)
−1.6%2025
42.92024
Overall Price Level
Japan +16.3 index points
(vs Chile)
59.22024
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
Japan
Latest Average Wage
−2.2% · 5 years
$50,183
Wage Milestones
Chile
10 Years Ago
$43,267 (2013)
Historical Peak
$45,670 (2016)
Latest Wage
$40,626 (2023)
Japan
10 Years Ago
$51,027 (2015)
Historical Peak
$52,662 (1997)
Latest Wage
$50,183 (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
Chile (CHL)Japan (JPN)
Overall
−16.3 index points
100
42.9vs59.2
Food
−27.2 index points
100
84.8vs112
Clothing
+6.5 index points
100
77.5vs71
Housing
−18.9 index points
100
29.6vs48.5
Health
−8.1 index points
100
25.8vs33.9
Transport
−17.6 index points
100
66.8vs84.4
Recreation
−17.7 index points
100
60.7vs78.4
Restaurants & Accommodation
−11.5 index points
100
61.1vs72.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Japan's latest average wage is $50,183 for 2025, about 23.5% higher than Chile's $40,626 for 2023 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $9,557 on the same PPP basis. The two figures come from different reference years.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Chile shows the stronger movement at +1.3%, against −0.5% for Japan. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +6.1% against −2.2%. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Food shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 84.8 for Chile against 112 for Japan. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 27.2 index points apart, Japan above Chile. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Clothing: Chile reads 77.5 and Japan 71 for 2024, just 6.5 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Health at 8.1 index points apart. Two readings this close mean the category sits at nearly the same point of the US=100 scale for both.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Japan holds a clear wage lead in this pairing: $50,183 for 2025, against Chile's $40,626 for 2023. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 23.5% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $9,557 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 Chile recorded −6.1% and Japan −1.6%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
Opposite directions define this pairing, and they pull the two wage levels closer together. Chile is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.3%, though the level remains 11.1% below its peak. Japan continues to drift below its peak, with a one-year change of −0.5% and a five-year change of −2.2%. The side gaining in real terms is Chile, the lower of the two latest wage levels (+6.1% over five years against −2.2%), so on these measures the two are closing in rather than drifting apart. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Chile's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 42.9, and Japan's reads 59.2, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Japan sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Food separates the two most: Chile reads 84.8 and Japan 112, 27.2 index points apart. The two sit closest in Clothing (77.5 versus 71), only 6.5 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 0 of Chile's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of Japan's 8. These are index values for 2024, not currency amounts; categories without a reported value on either side are left out of the comparison.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
