Poland
Latest Average Wage
+16.4% · 5 years
$49,074
Country Comparison
Poland vs France
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Poland
vs
France
$49,0742025
Latest Average Wage
France +23.2%
(vs Poland)
$60,4832025
+16.4%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Poland +12.7 pts
(vs France)
+3.7%2025
+42.0%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Poland +40.4 pts
(vs France)
+1.7%2025
45.72024
Overall Price Level
France +24.7 index points
(vs Poland)
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
Poland
10 Years Ago
$34,551 (2015)
Historical Peak
$49,074 (2025)
Latest Wage
$49,074 (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
Poland (POL)France (FRA)
Overall
−24.7 index points
100
45.7vs70.4
Food
−18.9 index points
100
74.5vs93.4
Clothing
+5.1 index points
100
91.2vs86.1
Housing
−40.6 index points
100
27.7vs68.3
Health
−14.1 index points
100
29.3vs43.4
Transport
−32.1 index points
100
81.9vs114
Recreation
−24.1 index points
100
58.1vs82.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
−12.9 index points
100
77.2vs90.1
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
France's latest average wage is $60,483 for 2025, about 23.2% higher than Poland's $49,074 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $11,409 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Poland shows the stronger movement at +4.6%, against +1.0% for France. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +16.4% against +3.7%. 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: 27.7 for Poland against 68.3 for France. France sits on the higher side of that 40.6-point spread; Poland reads 40.6 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 Clothing: Poland reads 91.2 and France 86.1 for 2024, just 5.1 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Restaurants & Accommodation at 12.9 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 — France at $60,483 for 2025, and Poland at $49,074 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 23.2% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $11,409 a year. 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. 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 Poland recorded +42.0% 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. Poland sits at the highest point of its series — $49,074 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +42.0%. 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: +16.4% for Poland 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
Poland's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 45.7, and France's reads 70.4, each measured against the United States reference of 100. France reads higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Housing: 27.7 for Poland against 68.3 for France, a gap of 40.6 index points. At the other end, Clothing brings the two closest — 91.2 versus 86.1, a gap of just 5.1 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Poland reads above 100 in 0 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.
