Australia vs New Zealand: Minimum relative to average wages of full-time workers
Minimum relative to average wages of full-time workers over time
- Australia
- New Zealand
How they compare
New Zealand currently reports 54.56 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees against 46.43 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees in Australia, a difference of 8.13 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees.
That makes New Zealand's figure about 1.2 times Australia's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 41 shared years of data; in 1985 it was Australia ahead.
Australia ranks 7th and New Zealand ranks 4th of 23 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 3 and New Zealand in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | New Zealand | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 57.4 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 47.22 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 10.18 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | Australia |
| 1990s | 54.63 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 45.19 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 9.43 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | Australia |
| 2000s | 48.05 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 47.64 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 0.4142 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | Australia |
| 2010s | 44.49 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 51.5 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 7.01 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | New Zealand |
| 2020s | 45.07 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 56.12 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | 11.05 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees | New Zealand |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher minimum relative to average wages of full-time workers, Australia or New Zealand?
- New Zealand, at 54.56 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees against 46.43 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees in Australia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in minimum relative to average wages of full-time workers between Australia and New Zealand?
- 8.13 Percentage of average wage of full-time employees, with New Zealand ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and New Zealand?
- 41 years are reported by both, from 1985 to 2025.
- How do Australia and New Zealand rank globally for minimum relative to average wages of full-time workers?
- Australia ranks 7th and New Zealand ranks 4th of 23 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Minimum relative to average wages of full-time workers. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
For cross-country comparisons, data on minimum wage levels are further supplemented with another measure of minimum wages relative to average wages, that is, the ratio of minimum wages to median earnings of full-time employees. Median rather than mean earnings provide a better basis for international comparisons as it accounts for differences in earnings dispersion across countries. However, while median of basic earnings of full-time workers - i.e. excluding overtime and bonus payments - are ideally, the preferred measure of average wages for international comparisons of minimum-to-median earnings, they are not available for a large number of countries. Minimum relative to mean earnings of full-time workers are also provided.