Japan
Latest Average Wage
−2.2% · 5 years
$50,183
Country Comparison
Japan vs Canada
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Japan
vs
Canada
$50,1832025
Latest Average Wage
Canada +35.3%
(vs Japan)
$67,9012025
−2.2%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Canada +1.9 pts
(vs Japan)
−0.3%2025
−1.6%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Canada +6.7 pts
(vs Japan)
+5.0%2025
59.22024
Overall Price Level
Canada +26.8 index points
(vs Japan)
862024
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
Canada
Latest Average Wage
−0.3% · 5 years
$67,901
Wage Milestones
Japan
10 Years Ago
$51,027 (2015)
Historical Peak
$52,662 (1997)
Latest Wage
$50,183 (2025)
Canada
10 Years Ago
$64,667 (2015)
Historical Peak
$68,434 (2021)
Latest Wage
$67,901 (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
Japan (JPN)Canada (CAN)
Overall
−26.8 index points
100
59.2vs86
Food
+4.0 index points
100
112vs108
Clothing
−47.0 index points
100
71vs118
Housing
−34.6 index points
100
48.5vs83.1
Health
−28.3 index points
100
33.9vs62.2
Transport
−18.6 index points
100
84.4vs103
Recreation
−13.6 index points
100
78.4vs92
Restaurants & Accommodation
−25.0 index points
100
72.6vs97.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Canada's latest average wage is $67,901 for 2025, about 35.3% higher than Japan's $50,183 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. Per year, that works out to roughly $17,718 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Canada shows the stronger movement at +0.2%, against −0.5% for Japan. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: −0.3% against −2.2%. 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: 71 for Japan against 118 for Canada. Canada sits on the higher side of that 47.0-point spread; Japan reads 47.0 index points lower on the US=100 scale. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Food: Japan reads 112 and Canada 108 for 2024, just 4.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Recreation at 13.6 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 — Canada at $67,901 for 2025, and Japan at $50,183 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 35.3% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $17,718 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 Japan recorded −1.6% against Canada's +5.0%, so the current levels were reached on visibly different long-term paths.
Wage Direction
No single shared direction describes this pairing; each side follows its own recent path. Japan continues to drift below its peak, with a one-year change of −0.5% and a five-year change of −2.2%. Canada stands just below its historical high of $68,434 in 2021, only 0.8% away, with a ten-year change of +5.0%. With the five-year changes at −2.2% for Japan and −0.3% for Canada, the horizons are clearer when read side by side rather than folded into one trend statement. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Japan's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 59.2, and Canada's reads 86, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Canada reads higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Clothing: 71 for Japan against 118 for Canada, a gap of 47.0 index points. At the other end, Food brings the two closest — 112 versus 108, a gap of just 4.0 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Japan reads above 100 in 1 of its 8 reported categories, and Canada in 3 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
