South Korea
Latest Average Wage
+3.1% · 5 years
$61,259
Country Comparison
South Korea vs United Kingdom
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
South Korea
vs
United Kingdom
$61,2592025
Latest Average Wage
United Kingdom +8.2%
(vs South Korea)
$66,2992025
+3.1%2025
5-Year Wage Change
South Korea +1.9 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+1.2%2025
+18.3%2025
10-Year Wage Change
South Korea +15.1 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+3.3%2025
60.12024
Overall Price Level
United Kingdom +24.2 index points
(vs South Korea)
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
South Korea
10 Years Ago
$51,769 (2015)
Historical Peak
$61,259 (2025)
Latest Wage
$61,259 (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
South Korea (KOR)United Kingdom (GBR)
Overall
−24.2 index points
100
60.1vs84.3
Food
+50.9 index points
100
136vs85.1
Clothing
+24.1 index points
100
103vs78.9
Housing
−57.4 index points
100
38vs95.4
Health
−35.1 index points
100
37vs72.1
Transport
−37.2 index points
100
73.8vs111
Recreation
−18.6 index points
100
71.6vs90.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
−4.8 index points
100
82.4vs87.2
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United Kingdom's latest average wage is $66,299 for 2025, about 8.2% higher than South Korea's $61,259 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. That is roughly $5,040 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, United Kingdom shows the stronger movement at +0.7%, against +0.6% for South Korea. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — South Korea at +3.1% and United Kingdom at +1.2% — 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: 38 for South Korea against 95.4 for United Kingdom. United Kingdom sits on the higher side of that 57.4-point spread; South Korea reads 57.4 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 Restaurants & Accommodation: South Korea reads 82.4 and United Kingdom 87.2 for 2024, just 4.8 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Recreation at 18.6 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
United Kingdom's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $66,299 for 2025, moderately higher than South Korea's $61,259 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 8.2% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $5,040 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. 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 South Korea recorded +18.3% 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. South Korea sits at the highest point of its series — $61,259 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +18.3%. 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%. South Korea's five-year change of +3.1% 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
South Korea's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 60.1, 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: United Kingdom sits higher in 6 of the 8 comparable categories. Housing separates the two most: South Korea reads 38 and United Kingdom 95.4, 57.4 index points apart. The two sit closest in Restaurants & Accommodation (82.4 versus 87.2), only 4.8 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 2 of South Korea's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of United Kingdom's 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
