Wage gap by age — Youth to prime-age wage gap by country
This dataset contains age wage gaps defined as the difference between mean (median) earnings of 25-54 year-olds and that of 15-24 year-olds (respectively 55-64 year-olds) relative to mean (median) earnings of 25-54 year-olds. Earnings refer to gross earnings of full-time dependent employees unless otherwise indicated.
What the numbers show
Wage gap by age — Youth to prime-age wage gap is currently reported for 41 countries. The highest value is 47.98 Percentage of prime-age employees wage in Brazil; the lowest is 22.58 Percentage of prime-age employees wage in Bulgaria.
The median across all reporting countries is 35.72 Percentage of prime-age employees wage, and the mean is 35.03 Percentage of prime-age employees wage.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 16 countries rose and 25 fell. The largest increase was in Estonia (up 41.2%), and the largest decrease in Bulgaria (down 30.6%).
Wage gap by age — Youth to prime-age wage gap: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 47.98 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2024 | up 2.8% | flat |
| 1 | Netherlands | 45.01 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 7.9% | falling |
| 2 | Ireland | 46.89 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | up 12.5% | rising |
| 2 | Slovenia | 31.96 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 12.9% | falling |
| 3 | United States | 46.46 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2025 | down 2.3% | rising |
| 3 | Poland | 26.18 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 25.2% | falling |
| 4 | Greece | 43.57 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | up 1.8% | rising |
| 4 | Estonia | 25 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | up 41.2% | rising |
| 5 | Argentina | 42.6 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2024 | up 16.6% | rising |
| 5 | Lithuania | 24.75 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | up 15.2% | rising |
| 6 | Colombia | 42.27 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2024 | down 4.7% | falling |
| 6 | Latvia | 24.15 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | up 29.0% | rising |
| 7 | Cyprus | 41.66 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 9.7% | flat |
| 8 | Peru | 41.06 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2022 | down 15.7% | falling |
| 9 | Chile | 40.94 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2024 | down 19.9% | rising |
| 10 | Luxembourg | 40.79 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | up 1.4% | rising |
| 11 | Canada | 39.72 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2025 | down 4.2% | falling |
| 12 | Australia | 39.5 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2020 | down 1.3% | rising |
| 13 | Denmark | 38.25 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2024 | up 5.2% | rising |
| 14 | United Kingdom | 38.24 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2021 | down 14.5% | rising |
| 15 | Japan | 37.96 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2022 | down 8.4% | falling |
| 16 | Norway | 37.47 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2025 | up 1.6% | rising |
| 17 | Germany | 37.23 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2023 | down 7.9% | flat |
| 18 | Switzerland | 36.51 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2024 | down 5.1% | flat |
| 19 | Iceland | 36.09 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 3.2% | rising |
| 20 | Finland | 35.72 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2024 | down 2.4% | rising |
| 21 | Portugal | 34.71 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 25.2% | falling |
| 22 | Spain | 34.71 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | up 2.1% | falling |
| 23 | France | 33.07 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 7.0% | rising |
| 24 | Belgium | 32.8 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2022 | up 2.3% | rising |
| 25 | New Zealand | 32.68 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2025 | down 12.8% | flat |
| 26 | Austria | 32.47 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 9.7% | falling |
| 27 | Hungary | 30.77 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2024 | up 1.3% | falling |
| 28 | Malta | 29.85 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | up 15.3% | rising |
| 29 | Sweden | 29.71 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2025 | up 5.8% | rising |
| 30 | Czechia | 29.45 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2025 | down 5.7% | rising |
| 31 | Romania | 28.13 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 24.5% | falling |
| 32 | Mexico | 26.21 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2025 | down 13.3% | falling |
| 33 | Costa Rica | 25.87 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2025 | up 4.3% | falling |
| 34 | Italy | 25.39 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 20.8% | falling |
| 35 | Bulgaria | 22.58 Percentage of prime-age employees wage | 2018 | down 30.6% | falling |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Korea 40.21 Percentage of prime-age employees wage
- Slovak Republic 27.66 Percentage of prime-age employees wage
About this data
This dataset contains age wage gaps defined as the difference between mean (median) earnings of 25-54 year-olds and that of 15-24 year-olds (respectively 55-64 year-olds) relative to mean (median) earnings of 25-54 year-olds. Earnings refer to gross earnings of full-time dependent employees unless otherwise indicated.