Iceland
Latest Average Wage
+21.6% · 5 years
$100,605
Country Comparison
Iceland vs United Kingdom
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Iceland
vs
United Kingdom
$100,6052025
Latest Average Wage
Iceland +51.7%
(vs United Kingdom)
$66,2992025
+21.6%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Iceland +20.4 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+1.2%2025
+34.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Iceland +31.3 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+3.3%2025
1122024
Overall Price Level
Iceland +27.7 index points
(vs United Kingdom)
84.32024
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
United Kingdom
Latest Average Wage
+1.2% · 5 years
$66,299
Wage Milestones
Iceland
10 Years Ago
$74,730 (2015)
Historical Peak
$100,605 (2025)
Latest Wage
$100,605 (2025)
United Kingdom
10 Years Ago
$64,199 (2015)
Historical Peak
$66,480 (2019)
Latest Wage
$66,299 (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)United Kingdom (GBR)
Overall
+27.7 index points
100
112vs84.3
Food
+41.9 index points
100
127vs85.1
Clothing
+50.1 index points
100
129vs78.9
Housing
−4.4 index points
100
91vs95.4
Health
+27.8 index points
100
99.9vs72.1
Transport
+33.0 index points
100
144vs111
Recreation
+37.8 index points
100
128vs90.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
+46.8 index points
100
134vs87.2
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Iceland's latest average wage is $100,605 for 2025, about 51.7% higher than United Kingdom's $66,299 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $34,306 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Iceland shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against +0.7% for United Kingdom. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +21.6% against +1.2%. 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: 129 for Iceland against 78.9 for United Kingdom. Iceland sits on the higher side of that 50.1-point spread; United Kingdom reads 50.1 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 Housing: Iceland reads 91 and United Kingdom 95.4 for 2024, just 4.4 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Overall at 27.7 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
The wage levels in this pairing are far apart: Iceland reports $100,605 for 2025, while United Kingdom reports $66,299 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 51.7% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $34,306 a year. 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 Iceland recorded +34.6% and United Kingdom +3.3%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
Both wage series rise over the five-year horizon, though not at the same pace. 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%. United Kingdom stands just below its historical high of $66,480 in 2019, only 0.3% away, with a ten-year change of +3.3%. Iceland's five-year change of +21.6% outpaces United Kingdom's +1.2% 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
Iceland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 112, and United Kingdom's reads 84.3, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Iceland sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Clothing separates the two most: Iceland reads 129 and United Kingdom 78.9, 50.1 index points apart. The two sit closest in Housing (91 versus 95.4), only 4.4 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 6 of Iceland's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of United Kingdom'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.
