Norway
Latest Average Wage
+6.0% · 5 years
$73,462
Country Comparison
Norway vs Denmark
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Norway
vs
Denmark
$73,4622025
Latest Average Wage
Denmark +6.3%
(vs Norway)
$78,0902025
+6.0%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Norway +4.4 pts
(vs Denmark)
+1.6%2025
+9.4%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Norway +2.5 pts
(vs Denmark)
+6.9%2025
902024
Overall Price Level
Denmark +2.1 index points
(vs Norway)
92.12024
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
Denmark
Latest Average Wage
+1.6% · 5 years
$78,090
Wage Milestones
Norway
10 Years Ago
$67,127 (2015)
Historical Peak
$73,462 (2025)
Latest Wage
$73,462 (2025)
Denmark
10 Years Ago
$73,026 (2015)
Historical Peak
$78,090 (2025)
Latest Wage
$78,090 (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)Denmark (DNK)
Overall
−2.1 index points
100
90vs92.1
Food
+11.0 index points
100
113vs102
Clothing
−14.0 index points
100
105vs119
Housing
−33.9 index points
100
60.4vs94.3
Health
+16.6 index points
100
80.6vs64
Transport
−4.0 index points
100
126vs130
Recreation
+5.0 index points
100
119vs114
Restaurants & Accommodation
−9.0 index points
100
114vs123
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Denmark's latest average wage is $78,090 for 2025, about 6.3% higher than Norway's $73,462 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. Per year, that works out to roughly $4,629 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Norway shows the stronger movement at +1.6%, against +0.3% for Denmark. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +6.0% against +1.6%. 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: 60.4 for Norway against 94.3 for Denmark. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 33.9 index points apart, Denmark above Norway. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Overall: Norway reads 90 and Denmark 92.1 for 2024, just 2.1 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Transport at 4.0 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
Denmark's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $78,090 for 2025, moderately higher than Norway's $73,462 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 6.3% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $4,629 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. No extra conversion is needed here: each figure is already a purchasing-power-adjusted annual amount in constant prices. 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 Norway recorded +9.4% and Denmark +6.9%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
The five-year direction is shared here: both series rise, with different momentum on each side. 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%. Denmark sits at the highest point of its series — $78,090 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +6.9%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +6.0% for Norway against +1.6% for Denmark, 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
Norway's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 90, and Denmark's reads 92.1, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Norway leads in 3 of the 8 comparable categories and Denmark in 5, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Housing: 60.4 for Norway against 94.3 for Denmark, a gap of 33.9 index points. At the other end, Overall brings the two closest — 90 versus 92.1, a gap of just 2.1 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Norway reads above 100 in 5 of its 8 reported categories, and Denmark in 5 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
