Denmark
Latest Average Wage
+1.6% · 5 years
$78,090
Country Comparison
Denmark vs Japan
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Denmark
vs
Japan
$78,0902025
Latest Average Wage
Denmark +55.6%
(vs Japan)
$50,1832025
+1.6%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Denmark +3.8 pts
(vs Japan)
−2.2%2025
+6.9%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Denmark +8.6 pts
(vs Japan)
−1.6%2025
92.12024
Overall Price Level
Denmark +32.9 index points
(vs Japan)
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
Denmark
10 Years Ago
$73,026 (2015)
Historical Peak
$78,090 (2025)
Latest Wage
$78,090 (2025)
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
Denmark (DNK)Japan (JPN)
Overall
+32.9 index points
100
92.1vs59.2
Food
−10.0 index points
100
102vs112
Clothing
+48.0 index points
100
119vs71
Housing
+45.8 index points
100
94.3vs48.5
Health
+30.1 index points
100
64vs33.9
Transport
+45.6 index points
100
130vs84.4
Recreation
+35.6 index points
100
114vs78.4
Restaurants & Accommodation
+50.4 index points
100
123vs72.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Denmark's latest average wage is $78,090 for 2025, about 55.6% higher than Japan's $50,183 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $27,908 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Denmark shows the stronger movement at +0.3%, against −0.5% for Japan. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +1.6% against −2.2%. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Restaurants & Accommodation shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 123 for Denmark against 72.6 for Japan. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 50.4 index points apart, Denmark above Japan. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Food: Denmark reads 102 and Japan 112 for 2024, just 10.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Health at 30.1 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
The wage levels in this pairing are far apart: Denmark reports $78,090 for 2025, while Japan reports $50,183 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 55.6% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $27,908 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% against Japan's −1.6%, so the current levels were reached on visibly different long-term paths.
Wage Direction
The two wage series are currently moving in opposite directions, and the separation between them is growing. 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%. Japan continues to drift below its peak, with a one-year change of −0.5% and a five-year change of −2.2%. Denmark is the side gaining in real terms (+1.6% over five years), while Japan records −2.2%, so the five-year measures point away from each other instead of converging. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Denmark's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 92.1, and Japan's reads 59.2, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Denmark sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Restaurants & Accommodation separates the two most: Denmark reads 123 and Japan 72.6, 50.4 index points apart. The two sit closest in Food (102 versus 112), only 10.0 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 5 of Denmark'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.
