Finland
Latest Average Wage
−0.1% · 5 years
$63,053
Country Comparison
Finland vs Japan
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Finland
vs
Japan
$63,0532025
Latest Average Wage
Finland +25.6%
(vs Japan)
$50,1832025
−0.1%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Finland +2.1 pts
(vs Japan)
−2.2%2025
+3.8%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Finland +5.5 pts
(vs Japan)
−1.6%2025
83.82024
Overall Price Level
Finland +24.6 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
Finland
10 Years Ago
$60,740 (2015)
Historical Peak
$65,186 (2021)
Latest Wage
$63,053 (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
Finland (FIN)Japan (JPN)
Overall
+24.6 index points
100
83.8vs59.2
Food
−18.9 index points
100
93.1vs112
Clothing
+38.0 index points
100
109vs71
Housing
+22.2 index points
100
70.7vs48.5
Health
+41.5 index points
100
75.4vs33.9
Transport
+32.6 index points
100
117vs84.4
Recreation
+22.6 index points
100
101vs78.4
Restaurants & Accommodation
+30.4 index points
100
103vs72.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Finland's latest average wage is $63,053 for 2025, about 25.6% higher than Japan's $50,183 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. That is roughly $12,871 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Finland shows the stronger movement at +1.1%, against −0.5% for Japan. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: −0.1% against −2.2%. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Health shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 75.4 for Finland against 33.9 for Japan. Finland sits on the higher side of that 41.5-point spread; Japan reads 41.5 index points lower on the US=100 scale. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Food: Finland reads 93.1 and Japan 112 for 2024, just 18.9 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Housing at 22.2 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Finland holds a clear wage lead in this pairing: $63,053 for 2025, against Japan's $50,183 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 25.6% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $12,871 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 Finland recorded +3.8% against Japan's −1.6%, so the current levels were reached on visibly different long-term paths.
Wage Direction
The two wage series do not point the same way across the reported horizons. Finland is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.1%, though the level remains 3.3% below its peak. Japan continues to drift below its peak, with a one-year change of −0.5% and a five-year change of −2.2%. The five-year changes — −0.1% for Finland, −2.2% for Japan — resist a single-trend summary and are clearer read side by side. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Finland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 83.8, and Japan's reads 59.2, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Finland sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Health separates the two most: Finland reads 75.4 and Japan 33.9, 41.5 index points apart. The two sit closest in Food (93.1 versus 112), only 18.9 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 4 of Finland'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.
