Sweden
Latest Average Wage
−1.7% · 5 years
$61,443
Country Comparison
Sweden vs France
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Sweden
vs
France
$61,4432025
Latest Average Wage
Sweden +1.6%
(vs France)
$60,4832025
−1.7%2025
5-Year Wage Change
France +5.4 pts
(vs Sweden)
+3.7%2025
+3.2%2025
10-Year Wage Change
Sweden +1.5 pts
(vs France)
+1.7%2025
81.52024
Overall Price Level
Sweden +11.1 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
Sweden
10 Years Ago
$59,542 (2015)
Historical Peak
$63,923 (2021)
Latest Wage
$61,443 (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
Sweden (SWE)France (FRA)
Overall
+11.1 index points
100
81.5vs70.4
Food
−2.6 index points
100
90.8vs93.4
Clothing
+22.9 index points
100
109vs86.1
Housing
−4.1 index points
100
64.2vs68.3
Health
+28.0 index points
100
71.4vs43.4
Transport
+3.0 index points
100
117vs114
Recreation
+16.2 index points
100
98.4vs82.2
Restaurants & Accommodation
+6.9 index points
100
97vs90.1
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Sweden's latest average wage is $61,443 for 2025, about 1.6% higher than France's $60,483 for 2025 — computed straight from the two reported values. In annual terms the gap comes to about $960 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, France shows the stronger movement at +1.0%, against +0.9% for Sweden. The five-year horizon keeps the same ordering: +3.7% against −1.7%. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Health shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 71.4 for Sweden against 43.4 for France. Sweden sits on the higher side of that 28.0-point spread; France reads 28.0 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 Food: Sweden reads 90.8 and France 93.4 for 2024, just 2.6 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Transport at 3.0 index points apart. A gap this small leaves the category effectively tied on the shared US=100 scale.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Sweden and France report nearly the same PPP-adjusted average annual wage: $61,443 for 2025, against $60,483 for 2025. The difference is 1.6% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $960 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 Sweden recorded +3.2% 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
The two wage series are moving in opposite directions — and the gap between them is narrowing as a result. Sweden is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +0.9%, though the level remains 3.9% below its peak. France stands just below its historical high of $61,289 in 2019, only 1.3% away, with a ten-year change of +1.7%. Because France — the lower of the two latest wage levels — is the side currently gaining in real terms (+3.7% over five years against −1.7%), the distance between the two is shrinking on these measures rather than growing. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Sweden's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 81.5, and France's reads 70.4, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Sweden reads higher in 6 of the 8 comparable categories, so the price profile leans consistently to one side. The widest separation is in Health: 71.4 for Sweden against 43.4 for France, a gap of 28.0 index points. At the other end, Food brings the two closest — 90.8 versus 93.4, a gap of just 2.6 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Sweden reads above 100 in 2 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.
