Norway
Latest Average Wage
+6.0% · 5 years
$73,462
Country Comparison
Norway vs France
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Norway
vs
France
$73,4622025
Latest Average Wage
Norway +21.5%
(vs France)
$60,4832025
+6.0%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Norway +2.3 pts
(vs France)
+3.7%2025
+9.4%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Norway +7.8 pts
(vs France)
+1.7%2025
902024
Overall Price Level
Norway +19.6 index points
(vs France)
70.42024
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
France
Latest Average Wage
+3.7% · 5 years
$60,483
Wage Milestones
Norway
10 Years Ago
$67,127 (2015)
Historical Peak
$73,462 (2025)
Latest Wage
$73,462 (2025)
France
10 Years Ago
$59,485 (2015)
Historical Peak
$61,289 (2019)
Latest Wage
$60,483 (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)France (FRA)
Overall
+19.6 index points
100
90vs70.4
Food
+19.6 index points
100
113vs93.4
Clothing
+18.9 index points
100
105vs86.1
Housing
−7.9 index points
100
60.4vs68.3
Health
+37.2 index points
100
80.6vs43.4
Transport
+12.0 index points
100
126vs114
Recreation
+36.8 index points
100
119vs82.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
+23.9 index points
100
114vs90.1
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Norway's latest average wage is $73,462 for 2025, about 21.5% higher than France's $60,483 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. That is roughly $12,978 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 +1.0% for France. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +6.0% against +3.7%. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Health shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 80.6 for Norway against 43.4 for France. Norway sits on the higher side of that 37.2-point spread; France reads 37.2 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 Housing: Norway reads 60.4 and France 68.3 for 2024, just 7.9 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
A clear separation shows in the latest wage figures — Norway at $73,462 for 2025, and France at $60,483 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 21.5% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $12,978 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 Norway recorded +9.4% and France +1.7%, 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%. France stands just below its historical high of $61,289 in 2019, only 1.3% away, with a ten-year change of +1.7%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +6.0% for Norway against +3.7% for France, 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 France's reads 70.4, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Norway reads higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Health: 80.6 for Norway against 43.4 for France, a gap of 37.2 index points. At the other end, Housing brings the two closest — 60.4 versus 68.3, a gap of just 7.9 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Norway reads above 100 in 5 of its 8 reported categories, and France in 1 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
