Spain
Latest Average Wage
+4.3% · 5 years
$57,779
Country Comparison
Spain vs United Kingdom
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Spain
vs
United Kingdom
$57,7792025
Latest Average Wage
United Kingdom +14.7%
(vs Spain)
$66,2992025
+4.3%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Spain +3.2 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+1.2%2025
+2.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United Kingdom +0.7 pts
(vs Spain)
+3.3%2025
59.42024
Overall Price Level
United Kingdom +24.9 index points
(vs Spain)
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
Spain
10 Years Ago
$56,334 (2015)
Historical Peak
$58,456 (2009)
Latest Wage
$57,779 (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
Spain (ESP)United Kingdom (GBR)
Overall
−24.9 index points
100
59.4vs84.3
Food
−3.1 index points
100
82vs85.1
Clothing
+1.7 index points
100
80.6vs78.9
Housing
−40.9 index points
100
54.5vs95.4
Health
−29.4 index points
100
42.7vs72.1
Transport
−18.9 index points
100
92.1vs111
Recreation
−16.6 index points
100
73.6vs90.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
−18.0 index points
100
69.2vs87.2
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United Kingdom's latest average wage is $66,299 for 2025, about 14.7% higher than Spain's $57,779 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. Per year, that works out to roughly $8,520 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Spain shows the stronger movement at +1.2%, against +0.7% for United Kingdom. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +4.3% against +1.2%. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Housing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 54.5 for Spain against 95.4 for United Kingdom. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 40.9 index points apart, United Kingdom above Spain. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Clothing: Spain reads 80.6 and United Kingdom 78.9 for 2024, just 1.7 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Food at 3.1 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
United Kingdom holds a clear wage lead in this pairing: $66,299 for 2025, against Spain's $57,779 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 14.7% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $8,520 a year. No extra conversion is needed here: each figure is already a purchasing-power-adjusted annual amount in constant prices. 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 United Kingdom +3.3%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
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%. 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%. Spain's five-year change of +4.3% outpaces United Kingdom's +1.2% 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 United Kingdom's reads 84.3, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: United Kingdom sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Housing separates the two most: Spain reads 54.5 and United Kingdom 95.4, 40.9 index points apart. The two sit closest in Clothing (80.6 versus 78.9), only 1.7 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 0 of Spain's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of United Kingdom'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.
