Netherlands
Latest Average Wage
−2.0% · 5 years
$80,136
Country Comparison
Netherlands vs Canada
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Netherlands
vs
Canada
$80,1362025
Latest Average Wage
Netherlands +18.0%
(vs Canada)
$67,9012025
−2.0%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Canada +1.7 pts
(vs Netherlands)
−0.3%2025
−3.1%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Canada +8.1 pts
(vs Netherlands)
+5.0%2025
78.42024
Overall Price Level
Canada +7.6 index points
(vs Netherlands)
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
Netherlands
10 Years Ago
$82,711 (2015)
Historical Peak
$83,103 (2016)
Latest Wage
$80,136 (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
Netherlands (NLD)Canada (CAN)
Overall
−7.6 index points
100
78.4vs86
Food
−23.6 index points
100
84.4vs108
Clothing
−35.3 index points
100
82.7vs118
Housing
−10.0 index points
100
73.1vs83.1
Health
−1.4 index points
100
60.8vs62.2
Transport
+16.0 index points
100
119vs103
Recreation
−2.0 index points
100
90vs92
Restaurants & Accommodation
+1.6 index points
100
99.2vs97.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Netherlands' latest average wage is $80,136 for 2025, about 18.0% higher than Canada's $67,901 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. That is roughly $12,236 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Netherlands shows the stronger movement at +1.9%, against +0.2% for Canada. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Netherlands at −2.0% and Canada at −0.3% — 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
Clothing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 82.7 for Netherlands against 118 for Canada. Canada sits on the higher side of that 35.3-point spread; Netherlands reads 35.3 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 Health: Netherlands reads 60.8 and Canada 62.2 for 2024, just 1.4 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Restaurants & Accommodation at 1.6 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 — Netherlands at $80,136 for 2025, and Canada at $67,901 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 18.0% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $12,236 a year. 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 Netherlands recorded −3.1% 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. Netherlands is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +1.9%, though the level remains 3.6% below its peak. 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 −2.0% for Netherlands 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
Netherlands' overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 78.4, and Canada's reads 86, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Canada reads higher in 6 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Clothing: 82.7 for Netherlands against 118 for Canada, a gap of 35.3 index points. At the other end, Health brings the two closest — 60.8 versus 62.2, a gap of just 1.4 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Netherlands 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.
