The countries where you can earn more than UK – and work less

There are at least thirteen countries where the average Brit could earn more per hour than in the UK, new research by remittance facilitator Remitly shows.

In these countries, workers can earn the median UK wage as much as 15 weeks quicker on average than in Britain. Though some have sky-high costs of living, others are far cheaper to live in.

The analysis shows that while many millionaires are ditching the UK to live in countries with a lower tax burden, people who earn closer to the average salary could still potentially benefit from a relocation.

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With the average Brit earning around £45,688 a year and working an average of 1,524 hours to earn this, according to the OECD’s mean salary data, we look at where you could get paid more for the hours you work, and how the cost of living compares.

Where can Brits earn more per hour?

The average Luxembourger could work 480 fewer hours in a year to earn the average UK salary, the analysis shows. That is the equivalent of 64 working days of seven and a half hours.

The cost of living in Luxembourg is around 14% higher than in the UK though, according to data from Numbeo. That means that, although you will work the equivalent of 64 days less for your cash, it will not stretch as far as it does in the UK.

Workers in the Nordic countries will also need to work fewer hours to achieve the average UK salary than their British counterparts.

In Iceland, the average worker only needs to work 125 days to earn a UK resident’s annual salary. It is similar in Norway (151 days), Denmark (153 days), Sweden (190 days).

However, as is the case for Luxembourg, the cost of living in these countries is much higher than in the UK. Numbeo estimates that the cost of living in Iceland is 41.5% higher than in Britain, 21% higher in Norway, 13.6% higher in Denmark, but 2.2% lower in Sweden.

There are other countries where you could work fewer days while simultaneously enjoying a lower cost of living.

The average German could work 46 fewer days a year to match the average pay for a Brit, and the cost of living in the country is around 1% lower than in the UK.

The same can be said for Australians, who could work just under three weeks less than Brits to earn their average salary while their living costs are around 0.4% lower.

A table showing the top ten countries where you can earn more than in the UK for less time worked can be found below:

Source: Remitly, Numbeo

Where would it take longer to earn the average UK salary?

Though there are certainly places in the world where you can earn more on average than in Britain, there are many others where the opposite is true.

Take Mexico, for example, where the average Mexican would have to work 6,211 hours, equivalent to more than 8.5 months of working every single day, to match the UK’s average annual salary.

This being said, the cost of living is 41.5% lower in the country so each pound or peso earned stretches much further than it would in the UK.

A list of the top ten countries where you will have to work more days a year to achieve the average UK wage can be found below:

Source: Remitly, Numbeo