Worldwide flag

Multi-country comparison

Compare take-home pay worldwide

Tax and social security take very different bites out of a salary depending on where you earn it. This tool lines up every country on the site, runs the same gross salary through each one’s factchecked calculator, and ranks them by the share of pay you actually keep. Switch regions to focus the table, and change the salary to see how the ranking shifts as you move up the income scale.

WorldwideEuropeOceaniaAsia
1Norway50 000 kr100.0%2HKHong KongHK$50,000100.0%3AEUnited Arab EmiratesAED 50,000100.0%4Sweden49 750 kr99.5%5ZASouth AfricaR 49 50099.0%6Denmark46.000 kr.92.0%7Australia$43,46286.9%8Japan￥42,65485.3%9SwitzerlandCHF 42'63685.3%10New Zealand$41,46782.9%11Canada$40,14580.3%12Ireland€39,66779.3%13United Kingdom£39,52079.0%14Netherlands€ 39.14078.3%15Luxembourg38.759 €77.5%16SGSingapore$38,75077.5%17Poland38 045 zł76.1%18Finland36 066 €72.1%19Spain35.546 €71.1%20France35 370 €70.7%21Austria€ 33.68167.4%22Italy33.620 €67.2%23Belgium€ 32.71265.4%24Germany32.384 €64.8%
On this salary you keep the most in Norway (100.0%) and the least in Germany (64.8%), a gap of 35.2 points.

Take-home is shown in each country's own currency from its factchecked salary calculator. The retention rate, the share of gross you keep after income tax and social contributions, is directly comparable across all of them.

How the comparison works

  1. Enter one gross annual salary. The same figure is sent to every country’s calculator.
  2. Each calculator applies that country’s own income-tax bands and employee social contributions for the latest tax year.
  3. The result is the take-home pay in local currency, and the retention rate, the percentage of gross you keep.
  4. Countries are ranked by retention, which is the only figure that compares fairly across different currencies.

Countries in this comparison

United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom Ireland flagIreland Germany flagGermany France flagFrance Spain flagSpain Italy flagItaly Netherlands flagNetherlands Poland flagPoland Switzerland Austria Belgium Sweden Norway Denmark Finland Luxembourg Australia New Zealand Japan Canada Singapore Hong Kong United Arab Emirates South Africa

Frequently asked questions

Why compare the retention rate and not the cash amount?

Each country pays in its own currency, so the raw take-home figures are not directly comparable. The retention rate, the share of gross you keep, strips out the currency and shows where the tax burden is genuinely lighter or heavier.

Does a higher retention rate mean a better deal?

Not on its own. A lower retention often funds public healthcare, pensions and other services you would otherwise pay for separately. The rate measures what stays in your pay packet, not the value of what the tax buys.

Are these figures exact?

They are estimates from each country’s factchecked calculator, using the standard single-person case and the latest published rates. Personal circumstances, regional taxes and allowances can change your own result.

Estimate only

A guide for general comparison, not financial or tax advice. Figures use the standard single-person case and the latest published rates per country.