Luxembourg
Latest Average Wage
+8.3% · 5 years
$98,530
Country Comparison
Luxembourg vs Japan
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Luxembourg
vs
Japan
$98,5302025
Latest Average Wage
Luxembourg +96.3%
(vs Japan)
$50,1832025
+8.3%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Luxembourg +10.4 pts
(vs Japan)
−2.2%2025
+11.0%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Luxembourg +12.7 pts
(vs Japan)
−1.6%2025
96.62024
Overall Price Level
Luxembourg +37.4 index points
(vs Japan)
59.22024
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
Japan
Latest Average Wage
−2.2% · 5 years
$50,183
Wage Milestones
Luxembourg
10 Years Ago
$88,737 (2015)
Historical Peak
$98,530 (2025)
Latest Wage
$98,530 (2025)
Japan
10 Years Ago
$51,027 (2015)
Historical Peak
$52,662 (1997)
Latest Wage
$50,183 (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
Luxembourg (LUX)Japan (JPN)
Overall
+37.4 index points
100
96.6vs59.2
Food
−6.0 index points
100
106vs112
Clothing
+28.7 index points
100
99.7vs71
Housing
+50.9 index points
100
99.4vs48.5
Health
+43.2 index points
100
77.1vs33.9
Transport
+16.6 index points
100
101vs84.4
Recreation
+18.7 index points
100
97.1vs78.4
Restaurants & Accommodation
+28.4 index points
100
101vs72.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Luxembourg's latest average wage is $98,530 for 2025, about 96.3% higher than Japan's $50,183 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $48,347 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Luxembourg shows the stronger movement at +1.1%, against −0.5% for Japan. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +8.3% against −2.2%. 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: 99.4 for Luxembourg against 48.5 for Japan. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 50.9 index points apart, Luxembourg above Japan. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Food: Luxembourg reads 106 and Japan 112 for 2024, just 6.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Transport at 16.6 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
The wage levels in this pairing are far apart: Luxembourg reports $98,530 for 2025, while Japan reports $50,183 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 96.3% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $48,347 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 Luxembourg recorded +11.0% against Japan's −1.6%, so the current levels were reached on visibly different long-term paths.
Wage Direction
The two wage series are currently moving in opposite directions, and the separation between them is growing. Luxembourg sits at the highest point of its series — $98,530 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +11.0%. Japan continues to drift below its peak, with a one-year change of −0.5% and a five-year change of −2.2%. Luxembourg is the side gaining in real terms (+8.3% over five years), while Japan records −2.2%, so the five-year measures point away from each other instead of converging. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
Luxembourg's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 96.6, and Japan's reads 59.2, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Luxembourg sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Housing separates the two most: Luxembourg reads 99.4 and Japan 48.5, 50.9 index points apart. The two sit closest in Food (106 versus 112), only 6.0 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 3 of Luxembourg's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of Japan'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.
