Iceland
Latest Average Wage
+21.6% · 5 years
$100,605
Country Comparison
Iceland vs Switzerland
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Iceland
vs
Switzerland
$100,6052025
Latest Average Wage
Iceland +9.0%
(vs Switzerland)
$92,2852025
+21.6%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Iceland +14.5 pts
(vs Switzerland)
+7.1%2025
+34.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Iceland +28.9 pts
(vs Switzerland)
+5.8%2025
1122024
Overall Price Level
Switzerland +7.0 index points
(vs Iceland)
1192024
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
Switzerland
Latest Average Wage
+7.1% · 5 years
$92,285
Wage Milestones
Iceland
10 Years Ago
$74,730 (2015)
Historical Peak
$100,605 (2025)
Latest Wage
$100,605 (2025)
Switzerland
10 Years Ago
$87,262 (2015)
Historical Peak
$92,285 (2025)
Latest Wage
$92,285 (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
Iceland (ISL)Switzerland (CHE)
Overall
−7.0 index points
100
112vs119
Food
−10.0 index points
100
127vs137
Clothing
+6.0 index points
100
129vs123
Housing
−28.0 index points
100
91vs119
Health
+5.4 index points
100
99.9vs94.5
Transport
+10.0 index points
100
144vs134
Recreation
−8.0 index points
100
128vs136
Restaurants & Accommodation
−6.0 index points
100
134vs140
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Iceland's latest average wage is $100,605 for 2025, about 9.0% higher than Switzerland's $92,285 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. That is roughly $8,320 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Iceland shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against +0.1% for Switzerland. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +21.6% against +7.1%. 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: 91 for Iceland against 119 for Switzerland. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 28.0 index points apart, Switzerland above Iceland. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Health: Iceland reads 99.9 and Switzerland 94.5 for 2024, just 5.4 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Restaurants & Accommodation at 6.0 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
Iceland's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $100,605 for 2025, moderately higher than Switzerland's $92,285 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 9.0% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $8,320 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. Both figures are expressed in USD PPP at constant 2025 prices, so they can be set side by side without any further conversion. Over ten years Iceland recorded +34.6% and Switzerland +5.8%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction. The wage milestones above show how each side arrived at its current level, year by year.
Wage Direction
The five-year direction is shared here: both series rise, with different momentum on each side. Iceland sits at the highest point of its series — $100,605 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +34.6%. Switzerland sits at the highest point of its series — $92,285 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +5.8%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +21.6% for Iceland against +7.1% for Switzerland, so the distance between the two levels keeps shifting. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Iceland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 112, and Switzerland's reads 119, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Iceland leads in 3 of the 8 comparable categories and Switzerland in 5, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Housing: 91 for Iceland against 119 for Switzerland, a gap of 28.0 index points. At the other end, Health brings the two closest — 99.9 versus 94.5, a gap of just 5.4 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Iceland reads above 100 in 6 of its 8 reported categories, and Switzerland in 7 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
