Denmark
Latest Average Wage
+1.6% · 5 years
$78,090
Country Comparison
Denmark vs United Kingdom
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Denmark
vs
United Kingdom
$78,0902025
Latest Average Wage
Denmark +17.8%
(vs United Kingdom)
$66,2992025
+1.6%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Denmark +0.4 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+1.2%2025
+6.9%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Denmark +3.7 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+3.3%2025
92.12024
Overall Price Level
Denmark +7.8 index points
(vs United Kingdom)
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
Denmark
10 Years Ago
$73,026 (2015)
Historical Peak
$78,090 (2025)
Latest Wage
$78,090 (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
Denmark (DNK)United Kingdom (GBR)
Overall
+7.8 index points
100
92.1vs84.3
Food
+16.9 index points
100
102vs85.1
Clothing
+40.1 index points
100
119vs78.9
Housing
−1.1 index points
100
94.3vs95.4
Health
−8.1 index points
100
64vs72.1
Transport
+19.0 index points
100
130vs111
Recreation
+23.8 index points
100
114vs90.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
+35.8 index points
100
123vs87.2
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Denmark's latest average wage is $78,090 for 2025, about 17.8% higher than United Kingdom's $66,299 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. In annual terms the gap comes to about $11,791 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, United Kingdom shows the stronger movement at +0.7%, against +0.3% for Denmark. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Denmark at +1.6% and United Kingdom at +1.2% — 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
Clothing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 119 for Denmark against 78.9 for United Kingdom. That is a separation of 40.1 index points on the US=100 scale, with Denmark on the higher side and United Kingdom on the lower one. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Housing: Denmark reads 94.3 and United Kingdom 95.4 for 2024, just 1.1 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Overall at 7.8 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
A clear separation shows in the latest wage figures — Denmark at $78,090 for 2025, and United Kingdom at $66,299 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 17.8% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $11,791 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 Denmark recorded +6.9% 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. Denmark sits at the highest point of its series — $78,090 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +6.9%. 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: +1.6% for Denmark 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
Denmark's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 92.1, and United Kingdom's reads 84.3, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Denmark reads higher in 6 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Clothing: 119 for Denmark against 78.9 for United Kingdom, a gap of 40.1 index points. At the other end, Housing brings the two closest — 94.3 versus 95.4, a gap of just 1.1 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Denmark reads above 100 in 5 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.
