Poland
Latest Average Wage
+16.4% · 5 years
$49,074
Country Comparison
Poland vs United Kingdom
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Poland
vs
United Kingdom
$49,0742025
Latest Average Wage
United Kingdom +35.1%
(vs Poland)
$66,2992025
+16.4%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Poland +15.2 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+1.2%2025
+42.0%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Poland +38.8 pts
(vs United Kingdom)
+3.3%2025
45.72024
Overall Price Level
United Kingdom +38.6 index points
(vs Poland)
84.32024
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
United Kingdom
Latest Average Wage
+1.2% · 5 years
$66,299
Wage Milestones
Poland
10 Years Ago
$34,551 (2015)
Historical Peak
$49,074 (2025)
Latest Wage
$49,074 (2025)
United Kingdom
10 Years Ago
$64,199 (2015)
Historical Peak
$66,480 (2019)
Latest Wage
$66,299 (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)United Kingdom (GBR)
Overall
−38.6 index points
100
45.7vs84.3
Food
−10.6 index points
100
74.5vs85.1
Clothing
+12.3 index points
100
91.2vs78.9
Housing
−67.7 index points
100
27.7vs95.4
Health
−42.8 index points
100
29.3vs72.1
Transport
−29.1 index points
100
81.9vs111
Recreation
−32.1 index points
100
58.1vs90.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
−10.0 index points
100
77.2vs87.2
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United Kingdom's latest average wage is $66,299 for 2025, about 35.1% higher than Poland's $49,074 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. Per year, that works out to roughly $17,225 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Poland shows the stronger movement at +4.6%, against +0.7% for United Kingdom. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +16.4% against +1.2%. 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 95.4 for United Kingdom. United Kingdom sits on the higher side of that 67.7-point spread; Poland reads 67.7 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 Restaurants & Accommodation: Poland reads 77.2 and United Kingdom 87.2 for 2024, just 10.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Food at 10.6 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 — United Kingdom at $66,299 for 2025, and Poland at $49,074 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 35.1% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $17,225 a year. 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 Poland recorded +42.0% and United Kingdom +3.3%, 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%. United Kingdom stands just below its historical high of $66,480 in 2019, only 0.3% away, with a ten-year change of +3.3%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +16.4% for Poland against +1.2% for United Kingdom, 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 United Kingdom's reads 84.3, each measured against the United States reference of 100. United Kingdom 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 95.4 for United Kingdom, a gap of 67.7 index points. At the other end, Restaurants & Accommodation brings the two closest — 77.2 versus 87.2, a gap of just 10.0 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Poland reads above 100 in 0 of its 8 reported categories, and United Kingdom in 1 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
