According to our research, you may be one relocation away from doubling (or quadrupling) your income. To find which countries offer the highest salaries, we considered 40 countries with the highest GDP in the world and found the average salaries for 30 in-demand job roles.

Key findings:

• Switzerland is the best-paid country in the world: salaries here are 100.1% above the global average.
• Switzerland had the best-paying salaries for 27 of the 30 job roles analyzed.
• Luxembourg and the U.S. are the 2nd and 3rd best-paid countries in the study (67.22% and 61.68% above average respectively).
• The best-paid position in the study is the role of physician in the U.S. (at $259,044).
• Seven of the top 10 highest-paid countries are in Europe.

The best-paid countries in the world

Seven of the top ten best-paid countries in the study are European. The only exceptions are the United States, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates. But focusing on the top five performers, which countries hand out the biggest paychecks?

1. Switzerland

Not only is the pretty alpine nation an attractive destination for holidaymakers, but Switzerland is a magnet for moneymakers. Switzerland's strong economic performance is attributed to its varied exports (like pharmaceuticals and machinery) and its political stability.

Taking into account all job roles, the average salary in Switzerland is 100.1% higher than the study average ($131,416 compared to $65,320). Of the 30 careers in the study, Switzerland did not achieve the top salary for just three positions: physician, sales executive, and physiotherapist.

The three best-paid careers in Switzerland were physician ($285,078), engineering manager ($216,847), and electronics engineer ($160,592).

2. Luxembourg

Luxembourg, a land-locked monarchy in northwestern Europe may be small, but its paychecks are mighty.

The average salary in Luxembourg across the job roles is $108,672 – which is 67.22% higher than the study average. Impressively, Luxembourg scored in the top five for every single career in the study. Its best-paid roles were for physicians ($259,044), engineering managers (​​$152,376), and actuaries ($142,307).

3. United States

In Europe, health care and annual leave benefits are often included in the employment package, but this is not often the case in the U.S. Big companies in the U.S. attract talent by offering very high salaries, especially in sectors like tech. This means that the U.S. income distribution is not as equal as in Europe.

But for those with in-demand careers, the U.S. is an excellent choice for income and purchasing power. The average salary here of $105,482 is 61.68% above the study norm. The U.S. placed in the top five for 24 of the 30 job roles.

The U.S. scored especially well for medical professionals: the average salary for a physician here is $288,440 – which is also the highest salary in the study overall.

4. Denmark

Besides its wealthy economy, Danish workers are also well protected by unions, which set industry-wide wage standards. In comparison to the U.S., there is also a relatively small wage inequality in Denmark, meaning even entry-level positions pay well.

Denmark featured in the top five for just over half (18) of the 30 careers, and overall, the average salary of $93,305 is 43.56% above the study average.

The top three highest-paying careers in Denmark are physician ($252,281), data analyst ($136,502), and actuary ($126,923).

5. Iceland

Like Denmark, trade unions have a strong presence in Denmark and approximately 90% of workers are unionized. Another hypothesis for the nation's relatively high wages is the small population size. Having a smaller population means that employers need to offer competitive salaries to attract and retain the island's top talent.

Iceland featured in the top five eight times. Their average salary of $89,075 is 37.24% higher than the study average. The best-paid jobs in Iceland include physician ($212,672), engineering manager ($134,401), and pharmacist ($110,739).

The top 10 highest-paying countries

The top-paying countries per sector

Different job roles are valued differently around the world. For example, in China, teaching is considered a high-status job, unlike in countries like Brazil. But how is this reflected in pay? Despite some slight variations, even when breaking down the results per sector the same countries consistently top the rankings.

Healthcare and Medicine

The study considered the salaries of seven healthcare roles: nurses, physicians, radiographers, midwives, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and psychologists. Radiographers were paid on average the least ($42,242) whereas physicians were paid on average the most ($158,514), not only in the sector but in the study overall.

Switzerland and Luxembourg appeared in the top five results for all of the medical professions – with Switzerland coming out on top for nurses, radiographers, midwives, pharmacists, and psychologists and the U.S. coming out top for physicians and physiotherapists.

Education

Three educational professions were considered in the study: preschool teacher, secondary school teacher, and professor. Professors earn on average the most in the group ($73,277 on average) and preschool teachers the least ($29,976 on average).

Switzerland came out top for all three educational careers in the study. A preschool teacher in Switzerland earns on average $58,657, a secondary school teacher earns $95,881, and a professor can expect to earn $154,097. Again, both the U.S. and Luxembourg also featured consistently in the top five for all three professions.

Finance and Business

Reflecting the most in-demand job roles, three financial and business-orientated careers were included: accountant, sales executive, and actuary. Of these, actuaries had the highest average salary ($81,518) and sales executives had the lowest ($53,460).

Although Switzerland again came top for both accountants ($115,257) and actuaries ($160,438) the average pay for sales executives is best in the U.K. ($119,671) – the only job role the U.K. came out top for.

Information technology

Four IT jobs were considered in the study: software engineer, data analyst, database administrator, and systems administrator. The average salaries for these roles were $74,533, $73,060, $71,670, and $60,852 respectively.

Again, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the U.S. all ranked within the top 5 for each career – with Switzerland coming out on top for all job roles.

Methodology

The study chose 40 countries with the highest GDP per capita for the study – excluding those where data was not primarily available from the Economic Research Institute's salary database. The study chose 30 of the world's most in-demand professions according to recruitment agent Michael Page. Salaries for each job role were then taken from the Economic Research Institute's salary database. The conversion rate into GBP and USD was taken on November 27, 2024.

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