Ireland
Latest Average Wage
−2.8% · 5 years
$70,113
Country Comparison
Ireland vs Denmark
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Ireland
vs
Denmark
$70,1132025
Latest Average Wage
Denmark +11.4%
(vs Ireland)
$78,0902025
−2.8%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Denmark +4.4 pts
(vs Ireland)
+1.6%2025
+4.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Denmark +2.4 pts
(vs Ireland)
+6.9%2025
92.22024
Overall Price Level
Ireland +0.1 index points
(vs Denmark)
92.12024
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
Denmark
Latest Average Wage
+1.6% · 5 years
$78,090
Wage Milestones
Ireland
10 Years Ago
$67,039 (2015)
Historical Peak
$72,356 (2021)
Latest Wage
$70,113 (2025)
Denmark
10 Years Ago
$73,026 (2015)
Historical Peak
$78,090 (2025)
Latest Wage
$78,090 (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
Ireland (IRL)Denmark (DNK)
Overall
+0.1 index points
100
92.2vs92.1
Food
−3.9 index points
100
98.1vs102
Clothing
−30.3 index points
100
88.7vs119
Housing
+9.7 index points
100
104vs94.3
Health
+20.4 index points
100
84.4vs64
Transport
−16.0 index points
100
114vs130
Recreation
−22.0 index points
100
92vs114
Restaurants & Accommodation
−18.0 index points
100
105vs123
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Denmark's latest average wage is $78,090 for 2025, about 11.4% higher than Ireland's $70,113 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. In annual terms the gap comes to about $7,978 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Ireland shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against +0.3% for Denmark. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Ireland at −2.8% and Denmark at +1.6% — 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
Clothing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 88.7 for Ireland against 119 for Denmark. That is a separation of 30.3 index points on the US=100 scale, with Denmark on the higher side and Ireland on the lower one. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Overall: Ireland reads 92.2 and Denmark 92.1 for 2024 — effectively the same relative price level on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Food at 3.9 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Denmark's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $78,090 for 2025, moderately higher than Ireland's $70,113 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 11.4% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $7,978 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. 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 Ireland recorded +4.6% and Denmark +6.9%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
This pairing shows two wage paths pulling apart rather than tracking each other. Ireland is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.8%, though the level remains 3.1% below its peak. 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%. With Denmark gaining in real terms at +1.6% over five years and Ireland at −2.8%, the five-year measures move away from each other rather than closing in. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Ireland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 92.2, and Denmark's reads 92.1, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Ireland leads in 2 of the 8 comparable categories and Denmark in 5, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Clothing: 88.7 for Ireland against 119 for Denmark, a gap of 30.3 index points. At the other end, Overall brings the two closest — 92.2 versus 92.1, a gap of just 0.1 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Ireland reads above 100 in 3 of its 8 reported categories, and Denmark in 5 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
