Average Annual Salary in Austria (2024)
Average annual wages in Austria from 1990 to 2024, expressed in constant 2024 USD at purchasing power parity. At $75,767 in 2024, Austria sits approximately 23.9% above the OECD average of $61,147. Source: OECD Average Annual Wages dataset.
Data
| Year | Avg. Annual Wage (USD PPP) | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 58,666 | — |
| 1991 | 60,499 | +3.1% |
| 1992 | 61,718 | +2% |
| 1993 | 62,221 | +0.8% |
| 1994 | 62,848 | +1% |
| 1995 | 63,355 | +0.8% |
| 1996 | 62,921 | -0.7% |
| 1997 | 62,400 | -0.8% |
| 1998 | 64,395 | +3.2% |
| 1999 | 65,825 | +2.2% |
| 2000 | 66,028 | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 65,829 | -0.3% |
| 2002 | 66,825 | +1.5% |
| 2003 | 66,979 | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 68,252 | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 68,622 | +0.5% |
| 2006 | 69,652 | +1.5% |
| 2007 | 70,059 | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 71,218 | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 72,435 | +1.7% |
| 2010 | 72,104 | -0.5% |
| 2011 | 71,328 | -1.1% |
| 2012 | 71,732 | +0.6% |
| 2013 | 71,762 | 0% |
| 2014 | 72,034 | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 72,559 | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 73,254 | +1% |
| 2017 | 73,263 | 0% |
| 2018 | 73,540 | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 74,148 | +0.8% |
| 2020 | 74,353 | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 75,502 | +1.5% |
| 2022 | 73,761 | -2.3% |
| 2023 | 73,586 | -0.2% |
| 2024 | 75,767 | +3% |
About this Dataset
In 2024, Austria's average annual salary reached $75,767 in constant 2024 USD, adjusted for purchasing power parity — the highest figure in the 35-year OECD series and approximately 23.9% above the OECD-wide average of $61,147. The figure covers mean gross wages for a full-time, full-year equivalent employee across the total economy, compiled by the OECD Centre for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs from national accounts and labour force surveys.
Austria's 2024 wage of $75,767 is $14,620 above the OECD average and closely matched to Belgium ($76,109). For employer cost modelling, Austria's total labour cost typically runs 35–45% above the gross wage once Lohnnebenkosten — pension, health, accident, and unemployment insurance contributions — are included. These social charges are among the highest in the OECD.
The dataset covers Austria from 1990 to 2024 at annual frequency. Key methodological notes:
- Unit: Constant 2024 US dollars, adjusted for purchasing power parity using OECD deflators
- Definition: Mean gross annual wage of full-time, full-year equivalent employees, total economy
- Coverage: 1990–2024, annual frequency, Austria (ISO-3: AUT)
- Measure code: WG (average wage) with USD_PPP unit measure, series AV_AN_WAGE
- Publisher: OECD Centre for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS.SAE)
Austria's wage history is notably different from Germany's. While Germany stagnated for a decade following the Hartz labour market reforms of 2003–2005, Austrian wages continued growing through the same period. Austria's Sozialpartnerschaft — a corporatist model of mandatory chamber membership for both employers and employees, with wage bargaining coordinated at the industry level — has kept real wages on a steadier upward path. Between 2000 and 2009, Austria's average wage rose from $66,028 to $72,435, a cumulative real gain of 9.7%, while Germany's moved from $59,354 to $60,635 — barely 2.2%.
The post-GFC adjustment was mild but visible. Real wages dipped -0.5% in 2010 (to $72,104) and a further -1.1% in 2011 (to $71,328) as fiscal consolidation and cautious collective settlements moderated wage outcomes. By 2012-2013 the series stabilised around $71,732-$71,762. From 2014 the slow recovery resumed, reaching $74,148 by 2019 — a 2.9% real gain over five years, modest by historical Austrian standards but reflecting a broader OECD pattern of weak wage growth in that mid-cycle period.
The COVID-19 shock produced almost no mark on Austrian wages. The 2020 figure of $74,353 was up 0.3% from $74,148 in 2019. Austria's Kurzarbeit scheme, expanded significantly in spring 2020, absorbed employment disruption without generating the composition distortions seen elsewhere. Workers stayed attached to employers; low-wage jobs didn't disappear from the sample. The 2021 recovery to $75,502 (+1.5%) then captured the post-reopening wage acceleration.
The 2022 inflation shock arrived sharply. Real wages fell 2.3% to $73,761 — the largest single-year decline in the dataset — as energy and supply-chain-driven consumer prices rose faster than collective wage settlements could keep pace. A further -0.2% slippage to $73,586 followed in 2023. The 2024 recovery of +3.0% to $75,767 reflects catch-up bargaining rounds, particularly in Austria's metalworking sector (the KV Metall agreement, a bellwether for broader settlements), retail, and public services, combined with the ongoing indexation clauses built into many Austrian collective agreements.
For equity analysts and corporate strategists, Austria's wage data is useful in several contexts. As a regional HQ location for Central and Eastern European operations, Vienna commands wages closer to those of Munich or Zurich than to Prague or Warsaw — Austria's $75,767 compares to roughly $35,000-$45,000 for OECD-equivalent measures in Poland and the Czech Republic. That gap is narrowing as CEE wages grow faster in real terms, but Austria's productivity base in precision engineering, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and logistics still supports the premium for many functions. For ECB watchers, Austrian wage data feeds into euro area unit labour cost calculations — Austria's Lohnrunde typically concludes before Germany's, making it a useful early indicator of wage pressure in the eurozone's Germanic bloc.