Money & economics · 8 min read
Average income by country: what people earn and what it buys
World Bank income per person across 50+ countries, turned into something tangible: how many days of work a phone, a tank of fuel or a burger takes.
Average income per person ranges from $110,330 a year in Switzerland to $1,500 in Pakistan across the 53 countries we track, a gap of about 74 to 1. The United States sits at $88,810, and the middle country on the list earns $17,930. These are World Bank figures for gross national income (GNI) per capita, Atlas method, mostly for 2025. Below we turn each into something you can picture: the minutes of work a Big Mac takes, and the days a tank of fuel or an iPhone 18 Pro takes.
What “average income” means here
GNI per capita is the total income earned by a country’s residents in a year, including income from abroad, divided by the whole population. Three things follow from that definition:
- It is not a salary. Children and retirees are in the denominator, and company profits are in the numerator. A typical worker’s take-home pay is a different number, usually lower.
- It is an average, not a median. In unequal countries, high earners pull the average well above what most people make.
- It is converted to dollars carefully. The World Bank’s Atlas method uses a three-year average of exchange rates, adjusted for inflation, so one bad month for a currency does not wipe out a country’s income on paper.
Most figures are for 2025. For the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Lebanon, the most recent published year is 2024, so we use that.
Average income in 53 countries, and what it buys
Prices are from The Economist’s Big Mac Index, GlobalPetrolPrices (a 50-litre tank of petrol, or gas) and Apple’s own storefronts (iPhone 18 Pro, 12 countries only). Work time assumes the average income is earned evenly: minutes use a 40-hour week, days use every day of the year.
| Country | Income / year | Per month | Big Mac | 50 L petrol | iPhone 18 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | $110,330 | $9,194 | 10 min | 10.2 hrs | — |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | $97,310 | $8,109 | 10 min | 14.0 hrs | — |
| 🇺🇸 United States | $88,810 | $7,401 | 9 min | 6.1 hrs | 4.9 days |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | $81,760 | $6,813 | 9 min | 13.2 hrs | 6.6 days |
| 🇩🇰 Denmark | $77,190 | $6,433 | 11 min | 16.2 hrs | — |
| 🇶🇦 Qatar | $74,330 | $6,194 | 8 min | 3.4 hrs | — |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | $64,120 | $5,343 | 12 min | 10.9 hrs | 8.3 days |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | $63,010 | $5,251 | 14 min | 13.1 hrs | — |
| 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | $62,500 | $5,208 | 6 min | 1.3 days | 7.8 days |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | $60,200 | $5,017 | 15 min | 17.5 hrs | 9.8 days |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | $56,420 | $4,702 | 13 min | 11.2 hrs | 7.9 days |
| 🇮🇱 Israel | $56,180 | $4,682 | 17 min | 20.6 hrs | — |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | $54,550 | $4,546 | 17 min | 18.6 hrs | 10.6 days |
| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | $51,550 | $4,296 | 13 min | 9.9 hrs | 9.8 days |
| 🇳🇿 New Zealand | $46,630 | $3,886 | 14 min | 18.4 hrs | — |
| 🇰🇼 Kuwait | $41,110 | $3,426 | 14 min | 3.6 hrs | — |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | $38,340 | $3,195 | 10 min | 12.3 hrs | 13.2 days |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | $37,880 | $3,157 | 13 min | 16.3 hrs | — |
| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | $36,070 | $3,006 | 18 min | 7.6 hrs | 15.4 days |
| 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | $32,960 | $2,747 | 21 min | 1.2 days | — |
| 🇧🇭 Bahrain | $28,790 | $2,399 | 21 min | 10.0 hrs | — |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | $25,520 | $2,127 | 30 min | 1.5 days | — |
| 🇺🇾 Uruguay | $24,020 | $2,002 | 46 min | 1.7 days | — |
| 🇭🇺 Hungary | $23,850 | $1,988 | 28 min | 1.5 days | — |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | $20,190 | $1,683 | 25 min | 1.9 days | — |
| 🇴🇲 Oman | $19,520 | $1,627 | 25 min | 14.0 hrs | — |
| 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | $17,930 | $1,494 | 49 min | 1.7 days | — |
| 🇨🇱 Chile | $16,960 | $1,413 | 40 min | 1.6 days | — |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | $16,300 | $1,358 | 53 min | 1.9 days | — |
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | $14,650 | $1,221 | 50 min | 1.8 days | — |
| 🇨🇳 China | $14,230 | $1,186 | 34 min | 1.8 days | — |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | $13,730 | $1,144 | 57 min | 2.1 days | — |
| 🇲🇾 Malaysia | $12,380 | $1,032 | 36 min | 1.6 days | — |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | $10,550 | $879 | 56 min | 2.2 days | — |
| 🇵🇪 Peru | $8,430 | $703 | 1.2 hrs | 3.6 days | — |
| 🇲🇩 Moldova | $8,050 | $671 | 1.2 hrs | 4.3 days | — |
| 🇨🇴 Colombia | $7,900 | $658 | 2.1 hrs | 3.0 days | — |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | $7,690 | $641 | 1.1 hrs | 3.5 days | 2.3 months |
| 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | $7,360 | $613 | 1.2 hrs | 1.7 days | — |
| 🇬🇹 Guatemala | $6,360 | $530 | 1.5 hrs | 3.7 days | — |
| 🇿🇦 South Africa | $6,270 | $523 | 1.2 hrs | 5.2 days | — |
| 🇺🇦 Ukraine | $5,510 | $459 | 1.3 hrs | 6.7 days | — |
| 🇯🇴 Jordan | $5,260 | $438 | 1.4 hrs | 6.7 days | — |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | $5,120 | $427 | 58 min | 3.8 days | — |
| 🇻🇳 Vietnam | $4,970 | $414 | 1.2 hrs | 4.0 days | — |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | $4,850 | $404 | 1.2 hrs | 5.6 days | — |
| 🇻🇪 Venezuela | $3,860 | $322 | 2.4 hrs | 4.0 hrs | — |
| 🇱🇧 Lebanon | $3,560 | $297 | 3.1 hrs | 7.4 days | — |
| 🇭🇳 Honduras | $3,270 | $273 | 3.3 hrs | 8.5 days | — |
| 🇪🇬 Egypt | $3,260 | $272 | 1.8 hrs | 2.6 days | — |
| 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | $2,850 | $238 | 3.7 hrs | 8.6 days | — |
| 🇮🇳 India | $2,760 | $230 | 1.8 hrs | 7.5 days | 7.5 months |
| 🇵🇰 Pakistan | $1,500 | $125 | 5.4 hrs | 17.3 days | — |
Just Switzerland and Norway have a higher average income than the United States. Each country’s full price profile is on its own page, starting with Switzerland.
Income gaps are far wider than price gaps
Among countries with a Big Mac price, the richest has about 74 times the income of the poorest. The dearest Big Mac, by contrast, costs only 3.8 times the cheapest. Prices do fall in poorer countries, but nowhere near as fast as incomes do. That single fact explains most of what you see in the work-time columns.
The burger takes 6 min of work in Hong Kong and 5.4 hrs in Pakistan, where it costs $3.89 against $3.25. Fuel shows the same pattern with a twist: subsidised petrol can make a tank almost free in work terms. A 50-litre fill costs 3.4 hrs of average income in Qatar ($29) but 17.3 days in Pakistan ($71). Compare pump prices worldwide on our gasoline tracker.
Imported technology is where the gap is harshest, because the price barely adjusts for income at all. An iPhone 18 Pro takes 4.9 days of average income in the United States and 7.5 months in India, where it costs $1,719 against $1,199. The full country-by-country breakdown is on the iPhone 18 Pro page.
Where income and prices are most out of step
Rank the countries by income and again by Big Mac price, and most land in similar places on both lists. The outliers are the interesting part:
- Colombia has the 4th most expensive Big Mac ($8.00) but ranks 37th of 53 for income, so the burger takes 2.1 hrs of work.
- Hong Kong is the reverse: 9th for income but only 47th for burger price ($3.25), which makes it one of the easiest places in our data to earn a Big Mac.
- In 18 of 53 countries a Big Mac costs more than an hour of average work.
- The iPhone 18 Pro takes more than a month of average income in 2 of the 12 countries where Apple sells it directly.
Why we measure prices in days of income
A dollar price answers “what does this cost a tourist?” Days of income answers “what does this cost the people who live there?” The second question is usually the one that matters, and it is the basis of our affordability index. The arithmetic is deliberately simple: divide the price by one day’s share of annual income. It ignores taxes, savings and inequality, so read the results as a fair comparison between countries rather than an exact budget for any one household. The reasoning is set out in days of income, explained; for how far a visitor’s dollars go instead, see purchasing power by country.
Income source: World Bank Open Data (NY.GNP.PCAP.CD), retrieved 2026-10-13.
Average income by country: quick answers
Which country has the highest average income?
Of the 53 countries we track, Switzerland, with GNI per capita of $110,330 (2025), or about $9,194 a month.
Which country has the lowest average income on this list?
Pakistan, at $1,500 per person per year (2025). That is roughly 1/74 of Switzerland's figure.
What is the average income in the United States?
World Bank GNI per capita for the US is $88,810 (2025), about $7,401 a month. That is a per-person average across the whole population, not a typical salary.
How many days of work does an iPhone 18 Pro cost?
It depends hugely on the country: 4.9 days of average income in the United States, up to 7.5 months in India, based on Apple's local prices.
Is GNI per capita the same as average salary?
No. It divides all national income, including profits and income from abroad, by the entire population, children included. It is best used to compare countries with each other, not as an estimate of any one person's pay.