New Zealand
Latest Average Wage
+2.6% · 5 years
$60,896
Country Comparison
New Zealand vs Sweden
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
New Zealand
vs
Sweden
$60,8962025
Latest Average Wage
Sweden +0.9%
(vs New Zealand)
$61,4432025
+2.6%2025
5-Year Wage Change
New Zealand +4.3 pts
(vs Sweden)
−1.7%2025
+15.5%2025
10-Year Wage Change
New Zealand +12.3 pts
(vs Sweden)
+3.2%2025
81.62024
Overall Price Level
New Zealand +0.1 index points
(vs Sweden)
81.52024
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
Sweden
Latest Average Wage
−1.7% · 5 years
$61,443
Wage Milestones
New Zealand
10 Years Ago
$52,727 (2015)
Historical Peak
$62,034 (2021)
Latest Wage
$60,896 (2025)
Sweden
10 Years Ago
$59,542 (2015)
Historical Peak
$63,923 (2021)
Latest Wage
$61,443 (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)Sweden (SWE)
Overall
+0.1 index points
100
81.6vs81.5
Food
+11.2 index points
100
102vs90.8
Clothing
−32.8 index points
100
76.2vs109
Housing
+40.8 index points
100
105vs64.2
Health
−25.8 index points
100
45.6vs71.4
Transport
−25.0 index points
100
92vs117
Recreation
−6.8 index points
100
91.6vs98.4
Restaurants & Accommodation
+6.0 index points
100
103vs97
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Sweden's latest average wage is $61,443 for 2025, about 0.9% higher than New Zealand's $60,896 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $547 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Sweden shows the stronger movement at +0.9%, against +0.7% for New Zealand. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — New Zealand at +2.6% and Sweden at −1.7% — 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
Housing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 105 for New Zealand against 64.2 for Sweden. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 40.8 index points apart, New Zealand above Sweden. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Overall: New Zealand reads 81.6 and Sweden 81.5 for 2024 — effectively the same relative price level on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Restaurants & Accommodation at 6.0 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
New Zealand and Sweden report nearly the same PPP-adjusted average annual wage: $61,443 for 2025, against $60,896 for 2025. The difference is 0.9% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $547 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 Sweden +3.2%, 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
Opposite directions define this pairing, and they pull the two wage levels closer together. New Zealand has risen across the reported horizons, with a one-year change of +0.7% and a five-year change of +2.6%. Sweden is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +0.9%, though the level remains 3.9% below its peak. The side gaining in real terms is New Zealand, the lower of the two latest wage levels (+2.6% over five years against −1.7%), so on these measures the two are closing in rather than drifting apart. 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 Sweden's reads 81.5, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: New Zealand leads in 3 of the 8 comparable categories and Sweden in 4, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. Housing separates the two most: New Zealand reads 105 and Sweden 64.2, 40.8 index points apart. The two sit closest in Overall (81.6 versus 81.5), only 0.1 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 3 of New Zealand's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 2 of Sweden's 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
