Sweden
Latest Average Wage
−1.7% · 5 years
$61,443
Country Comparison
Sweden vs South Korea
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Sweden
vs
South Korea
$61,4432025
Latest Average Wage
Sweden +0.3%
(vs South Korea)
$61,2592025
−1.7%2025
5-Year Wage Change
South Korea +4.8 pts
(vs Sweden)
+3.1%2025
+3.2%2025
10-Year Wage Change
South Korea +15.1 pts
(vs Sweden)
+18.3%2025
81.52024
Overall Price Level
Sweden +21.4 index points
(vs South Korea)
60.12024
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
South Korea
Latest Average Wage
+3.1% · 5 years
$61,259
Wage Milestones
Sweden
10 Years Ago
$59,542 (2015)
Historical Peak
$63,923 (2021)
Latest Wage
$61,443 (2025)
South Korea
10 Years Ago
$51,769 (2015)
Historical Peak
$61,259 (2025)
Latest Wage
$61,259 (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)South Korea (KOR)
Overall
+21.4 index points
100
81.5vs60.1
Food
−45.2 index points
100
90.8vs136
Clothing
+6.0 index points
100
109vs103
Housing
+26.2 index points
100
64.2vs38
Health
+34.4 index points
100
71.4vs37
Transport
+43.2 index points
100
117vs73.8
Recreation
+26.8 index points
100
98.4vs71.6
Restaurants & Accommodation
+14.6 index points
100
97vs82.4
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
Sweden's latest average wage is $61,443 for 2025, effectively level with South Korea's $61,259 for 2025 — the relative difference, calculated from the two reported values, rounds to under half a percent. Per year, that works out to roughly $184 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, Sweden shows the stronger movement at +0.9%, against +0.6% for South Korea. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Sweden at −1.7% and South Korea at +3.1% — 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
Food shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 90.8 for Sweden against 136 for South Korea. Measured on the US=100 scale, the two readings for this category are 45.2 index points apart, South Korea above Sweden. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Clothing: Sweden reads 109 and South Korea 103 for 2024, just 6.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Restaurants & Accommodation at 14.6 index points apart. Two readings this close mean the category sits at nearly the same point of the US=100 scale for both.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
Sweden and South Korea report nearly the same PPP-adjusted average annual wage: $61,443 for 2025, against $61,259 for 2025. The difference is 0.3% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $184 a year, which is small next to either figure. No extra conversion is needed here: each figure is already a purchasing-power-adjusted annual amount in constant prices. Over ten years Sweden recorded +3.2% and South Korea +18.3%, 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. Sweden is partway through a recovery: the latest year added +0.9%, though the level remains 3.9% below its peak. South Korea sits at the highest point of its series — $61,259 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +18.3%. The side gaining in real terms is South Korea, the lower of the two latest wage levels (+3.1% 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
Sweden's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 81.5, and South Korea's reads 60.1, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: Sweden sits higher in 7 of the 8 comparable categories. Food separates the two most: Sweden reads 90.8 and South Korea 136, 45.2 index points apart. The two sit closest in Clothing (109 versus 103), only 6.0 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 2 of Sweden's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 2 of South Korea's 8. These are index values for 2024, not currency amounts; categories without a reported value on either side are left out of the comparison.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
