Portugal
Latest Average Wage
+13.9% · 5 years
$44,937
Country Comparison
Portugal vs Japan
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Portugal
vs
Japan
$44,9372025
Latest Average Wage
Japan +11.7%
(vs Portugal)
$50,1832025
+13.9%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Portugal +16.1 pts
(vs Japan)
−2.2%2025
+23.1%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Portugal +24.7 pts
(vs Japan)
−1.6%2025
55.72024
Overall Price Level
Japan +3.5 index points
(vs Portugal)
59.22024
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
Japan
Latest Average Wage
−2.2% · 5 years
$50,183
Wage Milestones
Portugal
10 Years Ago
$36,520 (2015)
Historical Peak
$44,937 (2025)
Latest Wage
$44,937 (2025)
Japan
10 Years Ago
$51,027 (2015)
Historical Peak
$52,662 (1997)
Latest Wage
$50,183 (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
Portugal (PRT)Japan (JPN)
Overall
−3.5 index points
100
55.7vs59.2
Food
−24.4 index points
100
87.6vs112
Clothing
+11.4 index points
100
82.4vs71
Housing
−3.8 index points
100
44.7vs48.5
Health
+5.6 index points
100
39.5vs33.9
Transport
+7.6 index points
100
92vs84.4
Recreation
−11.9 index points
100
66.5vs78.4
Restaurants & Accommodation
−10.9 index points
100
61.7vs72.6
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Japan's latest average wage is $50,183 for 2025, about 11.7% higher than Portugal's $44,937 for 2025 — a relative difference calculated from the two reported values. That is roughly $5,246 a year on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Portugal shows the stronger movement at +1.8%, against −0.5% for Japan. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +13.9% against −2.2%. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Food shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 87.6 for Portugal against 112 for Japan. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 24.4 index points apart, Japan above Portugal. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Overall: Portugal reads 55.7 and Japan 59.2 for 2024, just 3.5 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Housing at 3.8 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Japan's latest PPP-adjusted average wage is $50,183 for 2025, moderately higher than Portugal's $44,937 for 2025. In relative terms the gap is 11.7% — calculated from the two reported values — equivalent to about $5,246 a year on the same purchasing-power basis. 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 Portugal recorded +23.1% against Japan's −1.6%, so the current levels were reached on visibly different long-term paths.
Wage Direction
The two wage series are moving in opposite directions — and the gap between them is narrowing as a result. Portugal sits at the highest point of its series — $44,937 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +23.1%. Japan continues to drift below its peak, with a one-year change of −0.5% and a five-year change of −2.2%. Because Portugal — the lower of the two latest wage levels — is the side currently gaining in real terms (+13.9% over five years against −2.2%), the distance between the two is shrinking on these measures rather than growing.
Price Profile
Portugal's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 55.7, and Japan's reads 59.2, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Portugal leads in 3 of the 8 comparable categories and Japan in 5, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Food: 87.6 for Portugal against 112 for Japan, a gap of 24.4 index points. At the other end, Overall brings the two closest — 55.7 versus 59.2, a gap of just 3.5 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Portugal reads above 100 in 0 of its 8 reported categories, and Japan in 1 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
