Spain
Latest Average Wage
+4.3% · 5 years
$57,779
Country Comparison
Spain vs Germany
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Spain
vs
Germany
$57,7792025
Latest Average Wage
Germany +32.0%
(vs Spain)
$76,2852025
+4.3%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Spain +2.4 pts
(vs Germany)
+2.0%2025
+2.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Germany +4.5 pts
(vs Spain)
+7.1%2025
59.42024
Overall Price Level
Germany +12.1 index points
(vs Spain)
71.52024
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
Germany
Latest Average Wage
+2.0% · 5 years
$76,285
Wage Milestones
Spain
10 Years Ago
$56,334 (2015)
Historical Peak
$58,456 (2009)
Latest Wage
$57,779 (2025)
Germany
10 Years Ago
$71,244 (2015)
Historical Peak
$76,285 (2025)
Latest Wage
$76,285 (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
Spain (ESP)Germany (DEU)
Overall
−12.1 index points
100
59.4vs71.5
Food
−6.7 index points
100
82vs88.7
Clothing
−9.8 index points
100
80.6vs90.4
Housing
−9.6 index points
100
54.5vs64.1
Health
−8.0 index points
100
42.7vs50.7
Transport
−21.9 index points
100
92.1vs114
Recreation
−13.0 index points
100
73.6vs86.6
Restaurants & Accommodation
−21.9 index points
100
69.2vs91.1
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Germany's latest average wage is $76,285 for 2025, about 32.0% higher than Spain's $57,779 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. That is roughly $18,506 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Germany shows the stronger movement at +1.9%, against +1.2% for Spain. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Spain at +4.3% and Germany at +2.0% — 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
Transport shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 92.1 for Spain against 114 for Germany. That is a separation of 21.9 index points on the US=100 scale, with Germany on the higher side and Spain on the lower one. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Food: Spain reads 82 and Germany 88.7 for 2024, just 6.7 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Health at 8.0 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
A clear separation shows in the latest wage figures — Germany at $76,285 for 2025, and Spain at $57,779 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 32.0% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $18,506 a year. Both figures are expressed in USD PPP at constant 2025 prices, so they can be set side by side without any further conversion. 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 Spain recorded +2.6% and Germany +7.1%, 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. Spain stands just below its historical high of $58,456 in 2009, only 1.2% away, with a ten-year change of +2.6%. Germany sits at the highest point of its series — $76,285 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +7.1%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +4.3% for Spain against +2.0% for Germany, 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
Spain's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 59.4, and Germany's reads 71.5, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Germany reads higher in 8 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Transport: 92.1 for Spain against 114 for Germany, a gap of 21.9 index points. At the other end, Food brings the two closest — 82 versus 88.7, a gap of just 6.7 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Spain reads above 100 in 0 of its 8 reported categories, and Germany in 1 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
