Ireland
Latest Average Wage
−2.8% · 5 years
$70,113
Country Comparison
Ireland vs Japan
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Ireland
vs
Japan
$70,1132025
Latest Average Wage
Ireland +39.7%
(vs Japan)
$50,1832025
−2.8%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Japan +0.6 pts
(vs Ireland)
−2.2%2025
+4.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Ireland +6.2 pts
(vs Japan)
−1.6%2025
92.22024
Overall Price Level
Ireland +33.0 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
Ireland
10 Years Ago
$67,039 (2015)
Historical Peak
$72,356 (2021)
Latest Wage
$70,113 (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
Ireland (IRL)Japan (JPN)
Overall
+33.0 index points
100
92.2vs59.2
Food
−13.9 index points
100
98.1vs112
Clothing
+17.7 index points
100
88.7vs71
Housing
+55.5 index points
100
104vs48.5
Health
+50.5 index points
100
84.4vs33.9
Transport
+29.6 index points
100
114vs84.4
Recreation
+13.6 index points
100
92vs78.4
Restaurants & Accommodation
+32.4 index points
100
105vs72.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Ireland's latest average wage is $70,113 for 2025, about 39.7% higher than Japan's $50,183 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. That is roughly $19,930 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Ireland shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against −0.5% for Japan. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Ireland at −2.8% and Japan at −2.2% — 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
Housing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 104 for Ireland against 48.5 for Japan. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 55.5 index points apart, Ireland above Japan. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Recreation: Ireland reads 92 and Japan 78.4 for 2024, just 13.6 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Food at 13.9 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
The wage levels in this pairing are far apart: Ireland reports $70,113 for 2025, while Japan reports $50,183 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 39.7% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $19,930 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 Ireland recorded +4.6% against Japan's −1.6%, so the current levels were reached on visibly different long-term paths.
Wage Direction
The five-year direction is shared here: both series decline, with different momentum on each side. Ireland is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.8%, though the level remains 3.1% 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%. Ireland's five-year change of −2.8% outpaces Japan's −2.2% 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
Ireland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 92.2, and Japan's reads 59.2, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Ireland sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Housing separates the two most: Ireland reads 104 and Japan 48.5, 55.5 index points apart. The two sit closest in Recreation (92 versus 78.4), only 13.6 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 3 of Ireland'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.
