iPhone 18 Pro ¥219,800
104 hours of work
The first two weeks of January, and the third until Wednesday 5 pm.
Seventh of ten. In Switzerland the same phone takes 30 hours; in Mexico, 327.
The Hours Index · Japan mist.huliwood.com
Three things, in Japan
And you?
I take home a year.
That is the average worker's, after tax. Put in yours for a year, bonuses and extra months' pay included, and the card and the list redo the sums. It stays on this page.
The sums
The average full-time worker in Japan earns ¥5,703,038 a year before tax and takes home ¥4,411,492 after income tax and social security contributions (OECD, 2025, a single worker without children). Divided by 2,080 working hours, an hour of work pays ¥2,121.
An iPhone 18 Pro: ¥219,800 ÷ ¥2,121 = 104 hours. The first two weeks of January, and the third until Wednesday 5 pm.
A Tesla Model Y: ¥5,587,000 ÷ ¥2,121 = 2,634 hours. A whole working year, and the next until early April.
A Big Mac: ¥500 ÷ ¥2,121 = 0.24 hours, or 14 minutes.
Tesla sells no base Model Y in Japan; the Premium RWD is the cheapest. Before Tesla's ¥100,000 registration fee and the ¥1,270,000 EV subsidy its site deducts. Hours count 52 weeks of 40, whatever people in Japan actually work. More in what the index leaves out.
Against the other nine
iPhone 18 Pro seventh of ten
- 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
Tesla Model Y seventh of ten
- 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
Big Mac joint third of ten
Sources
Pay: OECD, Taxing Wages 2026: net take-home pay of a single worker without children on 100% of the average wage, 2025 (the OECD's own estimate, as for most countries).
Prices, checked 29 September 2026: Apple, the iPhone 18 Pro with 256 GB; Tesla, the cheapest Model Y on sale; The Economist, the Big Mac index, July 2026 (data, CC BY 4.0).