Spain
Latest Average Wage
+4.3% · 5 years
$57,779
Country Comparison
Spain vs France
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Spain
vs
France
$57,7792025
Latest Average Wage
France +4.7%
(vs Spain)
$60,4832025
+4.3%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Spain +0.6 pts
(vs France)
+3.7%2025
+2.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Spain +0.9 pts
(vs France)
+1.7%2025
59.42024
Overall Price Level
France +11.0 index points
(vs Spain)
70.42024
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
France
Latest Average Wage
+3.7% · 5 years
$60,483
Wage Milestones
Spain
10 Years Ago
$56,334 (2015)
Historical Peak
$58,456 (2009)
Latest Wage
$57,779 (2025)
France
10 Years Ago
$59,485 (2015)
Historical Peak
$61,289 (2019)
Latest Wage
$60,483 (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)France (FRA)
Overall
−11.0 index points
100
59.4vs70.4
Food
−11.4 index points
100
82vs93.4
Clothing
−5.5 index points
100
80.6vs86.1
Housing
−13.8 index points
100
54.5vs68.3
Health
−0.7 index points
100
42.7vs43.4
Transport
−21.9 index points
100
92.1vs114
Recreation
−8.6 index points
100
73.6vs82.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
−20.9 index points
100
69.2vs90.1
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
France's latest average wage is $60,483 for 2025, about 4.7% higher than Spain's $57,779 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. That is roughly $2,705 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Spain shows the stronger movement at +1.2%, against +1.0% for France. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +4.3% against +3.7%. 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 France. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 21.9 index points apart, France above Spain. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Health: Spain reads 42.7 and France 43.4 for 2024, just 0.7 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Clothing at 5.5 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
France's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $60,483 for 2025, moderately higher than Spain's $57,779 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 4.7% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $2,705 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 Spain recorded +2.6% and France +1.7%, 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
Both wage series rise over the five-year horizon, though not at the same pace. Spain stands just below its historical high of $58,456 in 2009, only 1.2% away, with a ten-year change of +2.6%. France stands just below its historical high of $61,289 in 2019, only 1.3% away, with a ten-year change of +1.7%. Spain's five-year change of +4.3% outpaces France's +3.7% in magnitude, so the common direction does not mean the two levels are holding a fixed distance. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Spain's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 59.4, and France's reads 70.4, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: France sits higher in 8 of the 8 comparable categories. Transport separates the two most: Spain reads 92.1 and France 114, 21.9 index points apart. The two sit closest in Health (42.7 versus 43.4), only 0.7 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 0 of Spain's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of France'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.
