U.S.: pay in September 2026 was up 3% on a year earlier, while prices rose 3.7%. After inflation, pay fell by about 0.7%.
Pay growth after inflation (latest period with both figures)
Country
Pay growth
Inflation
After inflation
Sweden Q2 2026
3.1%
0.9%
+2.2%Pay ahead of prices
Denmark Q2 2026
3.7%
1.6%
+2.1%Pay ahead of prices
Portugal Q2 2026
5.4%
3.2%
+2.1%Pay ahead of prices
Norway Q2 2026
4.6%
3%
+1.6%Pay ahead of prices
Poland Q2 2026
4.7%
3.2%
+1.5%Pay ahead of prices
Spain Q2 2026
4.3%
3.6%
+0.7%Pay ahead of prices
Finland Q2 2026
3.3%
2.6%
+0.7%Pay ahead of prices
UK August 2026
3.7%
3.1%
+0.6%Pay ahead of prices
Canada August 2026
3.68%
3.03%
+0.6%Pay ahead of prices
Ireland Q2 2026
3.9%
3.4%
+0.5%Pay ahead of prices
Netherlands Q2 2026
3.1%
2.8%
+0.3%Pay ahead of prices
Germany Q2 2026
2.9%
2.7%
+0.2%Pay ahead of prices
Austria Q2 2026
3.3%
3.4%
-0.1%Prices ahead of pay
South Korea July 2026
2.46%
2.8%
-0.3%Prices ahead of pay
France Q2 2026
2.1%
2.4%
-0.3%Prices ahead of pay
U.S. September 2026
3%
3.7%
-0.7%Prices ahead of pay
Italy Q2 2026
2.1%
3%
-0.9%Prices ahead of pay
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office for National Statistics (UK), Statistics Canada, Statistics Korea (KOSIS), Eurostat (European Commission) · Vernumo
Your pay rise vs inflation
Enter how much your pay went up over the past year. We compare it with the latest official inflation rate in the country you choose.
Your pay after inflation-1.2%
A rise of 4.3% was needed just to keep up with prices.
Australia official inflation, September 2026: 4.3%
After-inflation pay growth = (1 + pay growth) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1, using official 12-month changes for the same month. Vernumo does this calculation; it is not an official real-wage statistic.
UK: average weekly earnings (3-month average) compared with CPIH averaged over the same 3 months, the method the ONS uses for its real-pay figures. U.S.: average hourly earnings of private employees compared with CPI-U (the BLS real-earnings release uses CPI-W, so figures differ slightly). Canada: average weekly earnings compared with CPI.
Europe: hourly wages and salaries from Eurostat’s labour cost index (business economy, quarterly, calendar adjusted) compared with HICP inflation averaged over the same quarter. This measures the cost of an hour of work, not take-home pay.
Korea: average monthly total pay per worker at firms with one or more employees (Ministry of Employment and Labor survey, via KOSIS) compared with CPI. The survey is published about two months after the reference month.
Averages hide large differences between jobs and people. Your own situation depends on your pay and what you spend money on.