OECD Countries Where Wages Beat Inflation in Q1 2025
Real Wage Growth Across OECD Countries in Early 2025
Slovenia recorded the strongest year-on-year real hourly wage growth among OECD countries with comparable first-quarter 2025 observations. The indicator measures the change in the relevant national wage series after all-items consumer-price inflation is removed, so a positive value means the measured wage index rose faster than prices.
The ranking uses the “one year earlier (Q1 2025)” column in the supporting data for OECD Employment Outlook 2026 Figure 1.11. Of 35 countries with comparable Q1 2025 observations, 34 recorded positive real wage growth; Israel was the only negative result. Belgium is excluded because its corresponding observation uses Q2 rather than Q1, Switzerland uses Q4, and Colombia is not included in the OECD figure.
This page compiles five official OECD source components: the 2026 wage chapter, the Figure 1.11 workbook, the 2025 documentation for national wage series and two OECD CPI datasets. Values show year-on-year percentage change, and higher positive growth ranks higher. All 34 rows are published historical values; the ranking contains no forecasts or modeled projections. Data checked: July 27, 2026.
Slovenia ranks first for year-on-year real hourly wage growth in Q1 2025.
Japan is the 34th confirmed country where the wage measure still narrowly exceeded inflation.
34 positive entries among 35 countries with directly comparable Q1 2025 observations.
Median of the 34 published positive values; no forecasts or modeled projections are included.
Overview: when wages actually beat inflation
Nominal wage growth shows how fast pay increased before accounting for prices. Real wage growth adjusts that change for consumer-price inflation. A positive real figure therefore indicates that the measured wage index gained purchasing power over the year, while a negative figure means prices rose faster than wages.
This page ranks growth rates, not wage levels. A country with lower average pay can rank above a richer country if its wages increased more quickly relative to inflation during the measured period. The results also do not show household disposable income, tax changes, housing costs, wage inequality or whether every worker experienced the national average.
Ranking metric: year-on-year change in real hourly wages in Q1 2025, taken from the historical comparison column in OECD Figure 1.11. Higher positive growth ranks higher.
Top 10 countries where wage growth exceeded inflation
The leading group includes several Central and Eastern European economies alongside Mexico and Costa Rica. Every country in the Top 10 recorded at least 4.0% year-on-year real hourly wage growth in Q1 2025. Because national wage indicators differ in coverage and construction, narrow gaps between neighbouring countries should not be overinterpreted.
Top 10 by year-on-year real hourly wage growth, Q1 2025
| Rank | Country | Real growth | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slovenia | +8.06% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 2 | Mexico | +6.87% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · OECD-adjusted ENOE hourly earnings; unreported-income caveat. |
| 3 | Latvia | +6.11% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 4 | Costa Rica | +5.94% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · OECD-adjusted ECE hourly earnings; private-sector coverage. |
| 5 | Lithuania | +5.77% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 6 | Hungary | +5.38% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 7 | Norway | +5.23% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 8 | Poland | +4.80% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 9 | Finland | +4.78% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 10 | Czechia | +4.03% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
Values are rounded to two decimals for display. Rank is calculated from the underlying OECD value before rounding.
Chart: Top 20 confirmed real-wage gains
Slovenia leads the positive Q1 2025 ranking at 8.06%, followed by Mexico at 6.87%. The distribution narrows quickly after the first ten countries, with Italy completing the Top 20 at 2.12%.
Methodology
The ranking uses the historical “one year earlier” real hourly wage-growth observations from OECD Employment Outlook 2026 Figure 1.11. For the comparable country set, that column represents the year-on-year change in Q1 2025. The OECD calculates real wage growth by deflating national nominal wage indicators with the all-items consumer price index.
Metric, unit and direction
Metric: year-on-year real hourly wage growth. Unit: percent. Direction: descending, because a larger positive purchasing-power gain ranks higher.
Coverage rule
The source figure contains 37 OECD countries and excludes Colombia. Belgium uses a Q2 observation and Switzerland a Q4 observation, leaving 35 countries comparable for Q1 2025. Only the 34 positive values are ranked.
Source hierarchy
The OECD Figure 1.11 workbook is the numeric source. OECD Employment Outlook 2025 Figure 1.15 documents the country-specific wage series; OECD CPI datasets provide the inflation measure.
Status and revision policy
Every ranked figure is a historical OECD value released with Employment Outlook 2026 on July 7, 2026. The table contains no forecast and no modeled projection.
Real wage growth compares nominal wage change with consumer-price inflation: [(1 + nominal wage change) ÷ (1 + CPI change) − 1] × 100. The page reproduces the OECD-published results and does not generate replacement estimates.
Country wage measures are not perfectly identical. Most European entries use the wage component of Eurostat’s Labour Cost Index. Other countries use official wage-price, employment-cost, establishment or earnings series. Israel, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom use actual-wage measures without the same compositional adjustment as the main series, so cross-country comparisons require additional caution. Coverage thresholds also differ by country.
Belgium is not ranked because its available observation refers to Q2 rather than Q1, while Switzerland uses Q4. Israel has a negative Q1 2025 result, and Colombia is not included in the source figure. Missing observations are left blank, conflicting periods are not combined, and rounding is applied only after the rank is calculated.
Limits: the indicator does not measure wage levels, median household income, after-tax purchasing power, housing affordability, wage inequality, employment growth or differences between sectors and worker groups.
Main ranking: 34 countries with positive real wage growth
Use the controls to find a country, filter the list by broad region or data status, change the sorting order, or display the Top 10, Top 20 or all 34 confirmed entries.
Countries where real hourly wages grew faster than inflation, Q1 2025
| Rank | Country | Real growth | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slovenia | +8.06% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 2 | Mexico | +6.87% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · OECD-adjusted ENOE hourly earnings; unreported-income caveat. |
| 3 | Latvia | +6.11% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 4 | Costa Rica | +5.94% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · OECD-adjusted ECE hourly earnings; private-sector coverage. |
| 5 | Lithuania | +5.77% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 6 | Hungary | +5.38% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 7 | Norway | +5.23% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 8 | Poland | +4.80% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 9 | Finland | +4.78% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 10 | Czechia | +4.03% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 11 | Ireland | +3.85% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 12 | Greece | +3.76% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 13 | Estonia | +3.45% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 14 | Chile | +3.33% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · INE regular hourly wage index; overtime and bonuses excluded. |
| 15 | Portugal | +3.27% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 16 | Sweden | +2.53% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 17 | Türkiye | +2.33% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · TurkStat Labour Cost Index; business-sector coverage. |
| 18 | Korea | +2.24% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · MOEL establishment wage survey; actual-wage series; private-sector coverage. |
| 19 | Denmark | +2.21% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 20 | Italy | +2.12% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 21 | Netherlands | +1.96% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 22 | Canada | +1.85% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Statistics Canada fixed-weighted hourly earnings. |
| 23 | United Kingdom | +1.70% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · ONS average weekly earnings; actual-wage series. |
| 24 | Slovak Republic | +1.57% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 25 | France | +1.07% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 26 | Luxembourg | +1.01% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 27 | Australia | +0.97% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · ABS Wage Price Index; additional composition controls. |
| 28 | Spain | +0.77% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 29 | United States | +0.72% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · BLS Employment Cost Index wage component; private-sector coverage. |
| 30 | Iceland | +0.64% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 31 | Germany | +0.61% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 32 | New Zealand | +0.36% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Stats NZ Labour Cost Index; additional composition controls. |
| 33 | Austria | +0.24% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · Eurostat Labour Cost Index wage component; OECD real-wage calculation. |
| 34 | Japan | +0.10% | Official OECD value · Q1 2025 · MHLW Monthly Labour Survey; actual-wage series for private-sector regular employees. |
Showing all 34 confirmed entries.
Numeric source: OECD Employment Outlook 2026 Figure 1.11 supporting workbook, published July 7, 2026. Ranked period: Q1 2025. The OECD deflates each national nominal wage series with CPI all-items; row notes identify the wage source and major coverage differences.
Insights from the Q1 2025 ranking
Key insight
Slovenia led at 8.06%, 1.18 percentage points above Mexico and 1.95 points above Latvia.
Notable pattern
Ten countries exceeded 4.0% real growth, while 14 of the 34 positive entries remained below 2.0%.
Regional concentration
Europe supplied 25 of the 34 positive entries, compared with five from the Americas and four from Asia-Pacific.
Outlier
Türkiye’s nominal wage index rose 42.97%, but inflation reduced the real gain to 2.33%, showing why nominal growth cannot be read as purchasing-power growth.
What the ranking means
A positive result means the measured wage series rose faster than consumer prices over the year to Q1 2025. It indicates improved purchasing power within that national indicator, but it does not mean every worker or household experienced the same outcome.
The size of the gain must be read alongside the starting point. Strong growth may reflect recovery after an earlier inflation-driven loss, while a small positive result can still coexist with high wage levels or low inflation.
For living-standard analysis, combine this ranking with wage levels, taxes, employment, productivity and household costs. Because national wage series differ in coverage and composition controls, small gaps between neighbouring ranks are not necessarily economically meaningful.
FAQ
Which country had the strongest real wage growth in Q1 2025?
Slovenia ranked first, with year-on-year real hourly wage growth of 8.06% in the OECD Figure 1.11 historical Q1 2025 column.
What does “wages beat inflation” mean?
It means the measured wage indicator increased faster than consumer prices, producing a positive real wage-growth rate.
Are these average wage levels?
No. The table ranks percentage growth after inflation, not the amount workers earn or the purchasing-power level of wages.
Why are only 34 countries included?
The source figure contains 37 countries and excludes Colombia. Belgium and Switzerland use different quarters, leaving 35 comparable Q1 2025 observations; Israel was negative, so 34 positive countries are ranked.
Are any rows forecasts or projections?
No. All 34 rows are published historical OECD values. The page contains no forecast or modeled projection.
Why do wage measures differ between countries?
Countries use different official wage indicators, including labour-cost, wage-price, employment-cost and establishment earnings series. The OECD presents them consistently and deflates them with CPI, but their coverage is not identical.
Can a high nominal wage increase still produce a modest real gain?
Yes. Türkiye is the clearest example in this table: nominal wage growth was 42.97%, but high inflation reduced the real gain to 2.33%.
Sources
OECD Employment Outlook 2026 — wage chapter
Primary publication for Figure 1.11, the real-wage definition, period exceptions and the 37-country coverage note.
OECD Figure 1.11 supporting workbook
Official numeric source for the Q1 2025 historical real- and nominal-wage observations used in the ranking.
OECD Employment Outlook 2025 — Figure 1.15 documentation
Country-specific wage-series definitions, coverage exceptions and comparability cautions used in the row notes.
OECD Consumer Price Index — COICOP 1999
OECD all-items CPI source used in the real-wage calculation and source documentation.
OECD Consumer Price Index — COICOP 2018
Newer OECD CPI classification referenced alongside the legacy series where applicable.
