New Zealand
Latest Average Wage
+2.6% · 5 years
$60,896
Country Comparison
New Zealand vs France
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
New Zealand
vs
France
$60,8962025
Latest Average Wage
New Zealand +0.7%
(vs France)
$60,4832025
+2.6%2025
5-Year Wage Change
France +1.1 pts
(vs New Zealand)
+3.7%2025
+15.5%2025
10-Year Wage Change
New Zealand +13.8 pts
(vs France)
+1.7%2025
81.62024
Overall Price Level
New Zealand +11.2 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
New Zealand
10 Years Ago
$52,727 (2015)
Historical Peak
$62,034 (2021)
Latest Wage
$60,896 (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
New Zealand (NZL)France (FRA)
Overall
+11.2 index points
100
81.6vs70.4
Food
+8.6 index points
100
102vs93.4
Clothing
−9.9 index points
100
76.2vs86.1
Housing
+36.7 index points
100
105vs68.3
Health
+2.2 index points
100
45.6vs43.4
Transport
−22.0 index points
100
92vs114
Recreation
+9.4 index points
100
91.6vs82.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
+12.9 index points
100
103vs90.1
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
New Zealand's latest average wage is $60,896 for 2025, about 0.7% higher than France's $60,483 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $413 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, France shows the stronger movement at +1.0%, against +0.7% for New Zealand. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +3.7% against +2.6%. 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: 105 for New Zealand against 68.3 for France. New Zealand sits on the higher side of that 36.7-point spread; France reads 36.7 index points lower on the US=100 scale. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Health: New Zealand reads 45.6 and France 43.4 for 2024, just 2.2 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Food at 8.6 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
New Zealand and France report nearly the same PPP-adjusted average annual wage: $60,896 for 2025, against $60,483 for 2025. The difference is 0.7% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $413 a year, which is small next to either figure. Because both values already sit on the same USD PPP, constant-2025-price footing, the comparison adjusts for price-level differences between the two economies. Over ten years New Zealand recorded +15.5% and France +1.7%, 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
Both wage series rise over the five-year horizon, though not at the same pace. New Zealand has risen across the reported horizons, with a one-year change of +0.7% and a five-year change of +2.6%. France stands just below its historical high of $61,289 in 2019, only 1.3% away, with a ten-year change of +1.7%. France's five-year change of +3.7% outpaces New Zealand's +2.6% 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
New Zealand's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 81.6, and France's reads 70.4, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: New Zealand sits higher in 6 of the 8 comparable categories. Housing separates the two most: New Zealand reads 105 and France 68.3, 36.7 index points apart. The two sit closest in Health (45.6 versus 43.4), only 2.2 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 3 of New Zealand's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 1 of France'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.
