Norway
Latest Average Wage
+6.0% · 5 years
$73,462
Country Comparison
Norway vs Germany
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Norway
vs
Germany
$73,4622025
Latest Average Wage
Germany +3.8%
(vs Norway)
$76,2852025
+6.0%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Norway +4.0 pts
(vs Germany)
+2.0%2025
+9.4%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Norway +2.4 pts
(vs Germany)
+7.1%2025
902024
Overall Price Level
Norway +18.5 index points
(vs Germany)
71.52024
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
Germany
Latest Average Wage
+2.0% · 5 years
$76,285
Wage Milestones
Norway
10 Years Ago
$67,127 (2015)
Historical Peak
$73,462 (2025)
Latest Wage
$73,462 (2025)
Germany
10 Years Ago
$71,244 (2015)
Historical Peak
$76,285 (2025)
Latest Wage
$76,285 (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)Germany (DEU)
Overall
+18.5 index points
100
90vs71.5
Food
+24.3 index points
100
113vs88.7
Clothing
+14.6 index points
100
105vs90.4
Housing
−3.7 index points
100
60.4vs64.1
Health
+29.9 index points
100
80.6vs50.7
Transport
+12.0 index points
100
126vs114
Recreation
+32.4 index points
100
119vs86.6
Restaurants & Accommodation
+22.9 index points
100
114vs91.1
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Germany's latest average wage is $76,285 for 2025, about 3.8% higher than Norway's $73,462 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. That is roughly $2,823 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Germany shows the stronger movement at +1.9%, against +1.6% for Norway. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Norway at +6.0% and Germany at +2.0% — 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
Recreation shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 119 for Norway against 86.6 for Germany. That is a separation of 32.4 index points on the US=100 scale, with Norway on the higher side and Germany on the lower one. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Housing: Norway reads 60.4 and Germany 64.1 for 2024, just 3.7 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Transport at 12.0 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Germany's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $76,285 for 2025, moderately higher than Norway's $73,462 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 3.8% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $2,823 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. Over ten years Norway recorded +9.4% and Germany +7.1%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction. The wage milestones above show how each side arrived at its current level, year by year.
Wage Direction
Both wage series rise over the five-year horizon, though not at the same pace. 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%. Germany sits at the highest point of its series — $76,285 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +7.1%. Norway's five-year change of +6.0% outpaces Germany's +2.0% 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
Norway's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 90, and Germany's reads 71.5, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Norway sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Recreation separates the two most: Norway reads 119 and Germany 86.6, 32.4 index points apart. The two sit closest in Housing (60.4 versus 64.1), only 3.7 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 5 of Norway's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of Germany'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.
