Norway
Latest Average Wage
+6.0% · 5 years
$73,462
Country Comparison
Norway vs Australia
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Norway
vs
Australia
$73,4622025
Latest Average Wage
Norway +2.0%
(vs Australia)
$72,0182025
+6.0%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Norway +7.4 pts
(vs Australia)
−1.4%2025
+9.4%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Norway +7.2 pts
(vs Australia)
+2.2%2025
902024
Overall Price Level
Australia +2.7 index points
(vs Norway)
92.72024
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
Australia
Latest Average Wage
−1.4% · 5 years
$72,018
Wage Milestones
Norway
10 Years Ago
$67,127 (2015)
Historical Peak
$73,462 (2025)
Latest Wage
$73,462 (2025)
Australia
10 Years Ago
$70,450 (2015)
Historical Peak
$73,870 (2021)
Latest Wage
$72,018 (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
Norway (NOR)Australia (AUS)
Overall
−2.7 index points
100
90vs92.7
Food
+12.0 index points
100
113vs101
Clothing
+35.5 index points
100
105vs69.5
Housing
−31.4 index points
100
60.4vs91.8
Health
−6.3 index points
100
80.6vs86.9
Transport
+26.7 index points
100
126vs99.3
Recreation
+23.8 index points
100
119vs95.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
−1.0 index points
100
114vs115
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Norway's latest average wage is $73,462 for 2025, about 2.0% higher than Australia's $72,018 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. That is roughly $1,443 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Norway shows the stronger movement at +1.6%, against +1.1% for Australia. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +6.0% against −1.4%. 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: 105 for Norway against 69.5 for Australia. Norway sits on the higher side of that 35.5-point spread; Australia reads 35.5 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 Restaurants & Accommodation: Norway reads 114 and Australia 115 for 2024, just 1.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Overall at 2.7 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Norway and Australia report nearly the same PPP-adjusted average annual wage: $73,462 for 2025, against $72,018 for 2025. The difference is 2.0% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $1,443 a year, which is small next to either figure. Both figures are expressed in USD PPP at constant 2025 prices, so they can be set side by side without any further conversion. Over ten years Norway recorded +9.4% and Australia +2.2%, 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
This pairing shows two wage paths pulling apart rather than tracking each other. Norway sits at the highest point of its series — $73,462 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +9.4%. Australia shows no single direction across horizons: +1.1% over one year against −1.4% over five. With Norway gaining in real terms at +6.0% over five years and Australia at −1.4%, the five-year measures move away from each other rather than closing in. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Norway's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 90, and Australia's reads 92.7, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Norway leads in 4 of the 8 comparable categories and Australia in 4, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Clothing: 105 for Norway against 69.5 for Australia, a gap of 35.5 index points. At the other end, Restaurants & Accommodation brings the two closest — 114 versus 115, a gap of just 1.0 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Norway reads above 100 in 5 of its 8 reported categories, and Australia in 2 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
