Ireland
Latest Average Wage
−2.8% · 5 years
$70,113
Country Comparison
Ireland vs France
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Ireland
vs
France
$70,1132025
Latest Average Wage
Ireland +15.9%
(vs France)
$60,4832025
−2.8%2025
5-Year Wage Change
France +6.5 pts
(vs Ireland)
+3.7%2025
+4.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Ireland +2.9 pts
(vs France)
+1.7%2025
92.22024
Overall Price Level
Ireland +21.8 index points
(vs France)
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
Ireland
10 Years Ago
$67,039 (2015)
Historical Peak
$72,356 (2021)
Latest Wage
$70,113 (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
Ireland (IRL)France (FRA)
Overall
+21.8 index points
100
92.2vs70.4
Food
+4.7 index points
100
98.1vs93.4
Clothing
+2.6 index points
100
88.7vs86.1
Housing
+35.7 index points
100
104vs68.3
Health
+41.0 index points
100
84.4vs43.4
Transport
0.0 index points
100
114vs114
Recreation
+9.8 index points
100
92vs82.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
+14.9 index points
100
105vs90.1
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Ireland's latest average wage is $70,113 for 2025, about 15.9% higher than France's $60,483 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. Per year, that works out to roughly $9,630 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Ireland shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against +1.0% for France. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Ireland at −2.8% and France at +3.7% — 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
Health shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 84.4 for Ireland against 43.4 for France. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 41.0 index points apart, Ireland above France. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Transport: Ireland reads 114 and France 114 for 2024 — effectively the same relative price level on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Clothing at 2.6 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
A clear separation shows in the latest wage figures — Ireland at $70,113 for 2025, and France at $60,483 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 15.9% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $9,630 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 Ireland recorded +4.6% and France +1.7%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
The two wage series are moving in opposite directions — and the gap between them is narrowing as a result. Ireland is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.8%, though the level remains 3.1% below its peak. France stands just below its historical high of $61,289 in 2019, only 1.3% away, with a ten-year change of +1.7%. Because France — the lower of the two latest wage levels — is the side currently gaining in real terms (+3.7% over five years against −2.8%), the distance between the two is shrinking on these measures rather than growing. 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 France's reads 70.4, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Ireland reads higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Health: 84.4 for Ireland against 43.4 for France, a gap of 41.0 index points. At the other end, Transport brings the two closest — 114 versus 114, a gap of just 0.0 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Ireland reads above 100 in 3 of its 8 reported categories, and France in 1 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
