South Korea
Latest Average Wage
+3.1% · 5 years
$61,259
Country Comparison
South Korea vs New Zealand
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
South Korea
vs
New Zealand
$61,2592025
Latest Average Wage
South Korea +0.6%
(vs New Zealand)
$60,8962025
+3.1%2025
5-Year Wage Change
South Korea +0.5 pts
(vs New Zealand)
+2.6%2025
+18.3%2025
10-Year Wage Change
South Korea +2.8 pts
(vs New Zealand)
+15.5%2025
60.12024
Overall Price Level
New Zealand +21.5 index points
(vs South Korea)
81.62024
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
New Zealand
Latest Average Wage
+2.6% · 5 years
$60,896
Wage Milestones
South Korea
10 Years Ago
$51,769 (2015)
Historical Peak
$61,259 (2025)
Latest Wage
$61,259 (2025)
New Zealand
10 Years Ago
$52,727 (2015)
Historical Peak
$62,034 (2021)
Latest Wage
$60,896 (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)New Zealand (NZL)
Overall
−21.5 index points
100
60.1vs81.6
Food
+34.0 index points
100
136vs102
Clothing
+26.8 index points
100
103vs76.2
Housing
−67.0 index points
100
38vs105
Health
−8.6 index points
100
37vs45.6
Transport
−18.2 index points
100
73.8vs92
Recreation
−20.0 index points
100
71.6vs91.6
Restaurants & Accommodation
−20.6 index points
100
82.4vs103
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
South Korea's latest average wage is $61,259 for 2025, about 0.6% higher than New Zealand's $60,896 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. Per year, that works out to roughly $363 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, New Zealand 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 New Zealand at +2.6% — 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 105 for New Zealand. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 67.0 index points apart, New Zealand above South Korea. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Health: South Korea reads 37 and New Zealand 45.6 for 2024, just 8.6 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Transport at 18.2 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
South Korea and New Zealand report nearly the same PPP-adjusted average annual wage: $61,259 for 2025, against $60,896 for 2025. The difference is 0.6% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $363 a year, which is small next to either figure. No extra conversion is needed here: each figure is already a purchasing-power-adjusted annual amount in constant prices. Over ten years South Korea recorded +18.3% and New Zealand +15.5%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction. For most side-by-side readings the two wage levels can be treated as equivalent within this dataset.
Wage Direction
The five-year direction is shared here: both series rise, with different momentum on each side. 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%. New Zealand has risen across the reported horizons, with a one-year change of +0.7% and a five-year change of +2.6%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +3.1% for South Korea against +2.6% for New Zealand, 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
South Korea's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 60.1, and New Zealand's reads 81.6, each measured against the United States reference of 100. New Zealand reads higher in 6 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Housing: 38 for South Korea against 105 for New Zealand, a gap of 67.0 index points. At the other end, Health brings the two closest — 37 versus 45.6, a gap of just 8.6 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, South Korea reads above 100 in 2 of its 8 reported categories, and New Zealand in 3 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
