iPhone 18 Pro 256 GB, Apple's price
30 hours of work in Switzerland. 327 in Mexico.
- Switzerland CHF 1,199 30 hours
- United States $1,199 45 hours
- Australia A$2,099 53 hours
- United Kingdom £1,199 58 hours
- Germany €1,449 74 hours
- France €1,479 93 hours
- Japan ¥219,800 104 hours
- Italy €1,489 119 hours
- Spain €1,469 122 hours
- Mexico MX$29,999 327 hours
One block, a working week of 40 hours. The fewest hours on top; each country opens its own page.
Switzerland Monday 9 am to Thursday 3 pm. Mexico January to late February.
Tesla Model Y the cheapest version on sale
1,033 hours of work in Switzerland. 8,716 in Mexico.
- Switzerland CHF 40,990 1,033 hours
- Australia A$58,900 1,474 hours
- United States $39,990 1,495 hours
- United Kingdom £41,000 1,982 hours
- Germany €39,990 2,034 hours
- France €40,990 2,575 hours
- Japan ¥5,587,000 2,634 hours
- Italy €40,990 3,264 hours
- Spain €40,990 3,413 hours
- Mexico MX$799,000 8,716 hours
One block, a working year of 2,080 hours.
Switzerland January to late June. Mexico Four whole working years, and the next until early March.
Big Mac The Economist's price, July 2026
11 minutes of work in Switzerland. 71 in Mexico.
- Switzerland CHF 7.30 11 minutes
- Australia A$8.50 13 minutes
- United States $6.22 14 minutes
- Japan ¥500 14 minutes
- United Kingdom £5.49 16 minutes
- France €5.60 21 minutes
- Germany €6.99 21 minutes
- Spain €5.90 29 minutes
- Italy €6.56 31 minutes
- Mexico MX$109 71 minutes
One block, ten minutes of work.
Switzerland Monday from 9 am to 9:11 am. Mexico Monday from 9 am to 10:11 am.
The numbers
Take-home pay is a year's pay after income tax and social security contributions, for a single worker without children on the country's average full-time wage (OECD, 2025). An hour of work is that pay divided by 2,080. Hours are the price divided by the hour.
| Country | Take-home pay a year | An hour of work | iPhone 18 Pro | Hours | Tesla Model Y | Hours | Big Mac | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $55,644 | $26.75 | $1,199 | 45 | $39,990 | 1,495 | $6.22 | 14 |
| United Kingdom | £43,027 | £20.69 | £1,199 | 58 | £41,000 | 1,982 | £5.49 | 16 |
| Germany | €40,902 | €19.66 | €1,449 | 74 | €39,990 | 2,034 | €6.99 | 21 |
| Spain | €24,985 | €12.01 | €1,469 | 122 | €40,990 | 3,413 | €5.90 | 29 |
| France | €33,104 | €15.92 | €1,479 | 93 | €40,990 | 2,575 | €5.60 | 21 |
| Italy | €26,118 | €12.56 | €1,489 | 119 | €40,990 | 3,264 | €6.56 | 31 |
| Switzerland | CHF 82,536 | CHF 39.68 | CHF 1,199 | 30 | CHF 40,990 | 1,033 | CHF 7.30 | 11 |
| Australia | A$83,110 | A$39.96 | A$2,099 | 53 | A$58,900* | 1,474 | A$8.50 | 13 |
| Japan | ¥4,411,492 | ¥2,121 | ¥219,800 | 104 | ¥5,587,000* | 2,634 | ¥500 | 14 |
| Mexico | MX$190,675 | MX$91.67 | MX$29,999 | 327 | MX$799,000 | 8,716 | MX$109 | 71 |
* The cheapest Model Y on sale in Australia and Japan is the Premium: Tesla sells no base version there. Prices checked on 29 September 2026; every figure with its source in data.json.
How it works
Take a country's average full-time wage and take off income tax and social security contributions: that is its take-home pay. Divide it by 2,080, the hours in a year of 40-hour weeks, and you have what an hour of work pays there. Divide a price by that hour.
Spain: €24,985 a year after tax ÷ 2,080 = €12.01 an hour.
An iPhone 18 Pro costs €1,469 there: €1,469 ÷ €12.01 = 122 hours.
No exchange rate enters the sum: each price is divided by pay in its own currency.
What it leaves out
You, for a start. The OECD's average wage is the mean for full-time workers in industry and private-sector services (it leaves out farming, government, education and health), and most people earn less than the mean, so for most people the hours are longer. Every country's page takes your own pay.
Everything else a salary pays for. Take-home pay is before rent, food and the rest; the index prices three things against pay, not what is left once the rent is paid.
The hours people actually work. Every country gets 2,080 a year. Counting real hours would widen some gaps and close others; one yardstick keeps the number about prices and pay.
This year's raises. Pay is the OECD's figure for 2025, for every country here but Australia its own estimate; the prices were checked on 29 September 2026, the Big Mac's in July. Take-home pay grew by under 1% in Switzerland and by 7% in Australia in 2025. If it grows as much in 2026, today's hours are up to 7% fewer than shown.
Anything but the price on the tag. Apple's and Tesla's American prices are before sales tax, as American shops show them; their prices everywhere else include VAT or GST. The Tesla is the car itself, before delivery and registration fees and before any subsidy.
Sources
Pay: OECD, Taxing Wages 2026 (April 2026), net take-home pay of a single worker without children on 100% of the average wage, 2025, in national currency; the twenty figures from the OECD's own data service.
iPhone 18 Pro, 256 GB: Apple's online store, checked 29 September 2026: United States · United Kingdom · Germany · Spain · France · Italy · Switzerland · Australia · Japan · Mexico.
Tesla Model Y: Tesla's configurator, checked 29 September 2026: United States · United Kingdom · Germany · Spain · France · Italy · Switzerland · Australia · Japan · Mexico.
Big Mac: The Economist, The Big Mac index, July 2026 (data, CC BY 4.0).