Question · Incomes and prices · 21 OECD countries
Are household incomes keeping up with prices?
Average real disposable income per person · 21 OECD countries with data · Q1 2026 compared with Q4 2025 (nine quarters shown)
Short answer
It depends on the country, and the latest quarter was mixed. Compared with the previous quarter, real disposable income per person rose in 13 of the 21 OECD countries with data for the first quarter of 2026 and fell in 8; in 17 of them the change was smaller than 1%.
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Source: OECD · released 6 Aug 2026 · source last checked 9 Sept 2026Version 1 · published by World Pulse 8 Sept 2026
The largest rises were in Hungary (+6.02%) and Chile (+4.79%); the largest falls in Greece (−3.65%) and Austria (−2.76%). Germany, the United States and Canada were close to flat (+0.22%, +0.20%, +0.19%); the United Kingdom fell by 0.84%.
“Real” means after the change in the prices households pay: a rise says the average resident could buy a little more than in the previous quarter, not that prices fell. One quarter of growth also does not show whether losses from earlier quarters have been recovered — this series compares each quarter only with the one before it.
Scope
Group
All residents of each country, as an average: the total disposable income of households (including non-profit institutions serving households) is divided by the whole population. This is a mean per person — not a median household, not wages, and not any particular person’s budget.
Place
The 21 OECD countries with a published observation for the first quarter of 2026: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, United States. Not covered: other countries, including Japan (latest published quarter Q1 2025) and Mexico (Q4 2025), and countries for which OECD does not publish this quarterly series, such as Korea and Türkiye. The OECD and G7 aggregates are kept out of the country comparison.
Period
First quarter of 2026 compared with the fourth quarter of 2025 — seasonally adjusted change on the previous quarter, not annualised. The country view shows the nine quarters from Q1 2024 to Q1 2026 from the same database snapshot.
Definition
Income after taxes and social contributions, including cash social benefits and pensions (“gross disposable income of households and NPISH” in the national accounts), divided by the total population and adjusted for the change in the prices of what households buy (the implicit deflator of household final consumption expenditure). Free or subsidised services such as public health care and education (“transfers in kind”) are not included. The OECD uses the countries’ own national accounts and seasonally adjusts them where the national source does not.
What changed in Q1 2026
Q1 2026 compared with Q4 2025: real disposable income per person rose in 13 of 21 countries and fell in 8
Percentage change on the previous quarter (Q4 2025), seasonally adjusted, not annualised. Zero means no change. Sorted from the largest rise to the largest fall; select a row to see that country’s quarters.
- Countries in the comparison
- Selected country
Choose a country above, or select its row in the chart, to see its last 9 quarters. No country is pre-selected.
Not in this comparison
- G7 — aggregate estimate, includes OECD estimates for countries without published data
- OECD — aggregate estimate, includes OECD estimates for countries without published data
- Japan — no observation for Q1 2026; latest published quarter Q1 2025
- Mexico — no observation for Q1 2026; latest published quarter Q4 2025
| Country | Q1 2024 | Q2 2024 | Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | −0.43% | −0.35% | +1.43% | +0.82% | +1.19% | −0.18% | +0.31% | +0.92% | −0.71% |
| Austria | +2.43% | +1.41% | +0.87% | +0.21% | −1.45% | −1.07% | −0.86% | +1.55% | −2.76% |
| Belgium | −0.42% | +1.67% | −0.07% | −1.22% | +0.62% | +1.67% | −0.01% | +0.01% | −0.95% |
| Canada | −0.18% | +1.04% | +1.16% | −0.01% | −0.19% | −0.20% | −0.09% | −0.04% | +0.19% |
| Chile | +3.59% | −2.86% | +2.23% | −1.51% | +3.09% | +0.41% | −0.58% | +0.01% | +4.79% |
| Czechia | +0.33% | +0.63% | −0.54% | +0.99% | −0.97% | +1.65% | −0.09% | +1.73% | +0.12% |
| Denmark | +1.85% | 0.00% | +0.82% | −2.37% | +4.55% | −1.41% | −0.63% | +0.97% | +0.63% |
| Finland | +0.82% | −0.47% | +0.29% | +0.60% | −0.75% | +1.16% | −0.73% | −0.23% | +0.57% |
| France | +0.69% | +0.39% | +0.75% | −0.07% | −1.03% | −0.06% | −0.32% | +0.29% | −0.12% |
| Germany | +1.07% | +0.17% | +0.64% | −0.28% | −0.22% | +0.37% | +0.36% | +0.06% | +0.22% |
| Greece | −0.30% | −0.94% | +3.12% | −4.64% | +2.10% | +2.93% | −1.89% | +2.66% | −3.65% |
| Hungary | +1.54% | +0.29% | +0.88% | −0.76% | −2.04% | +1.95% | +2.80% | +1.67% | +6.02% |
| Ireland | +5.60% | −3.10% | +2.16% | +5.58% | −2.94% | +0.10% | +0.41% | −1.70% | +0.93% |
| Italy | +0.17% | +0.31% | +0.52% | −0.66% | +0.24% | +1.02% | +0.51% | −0.89% | +0.76% |
| Netherlands | +1.68% | −2.82% | +2.29% | +2.08% | +0.29% | +0.18% | −1.31% | +1.38% | +0.07% |
| Poland | +3.39% | +1.95% | +1.14% | −0.12% | +0.97% | +2.48% | −0.62% | +2.52% | +0.61% |
| Portugal | +3.03% | +1.00% | +0.29% | +1.62% | −0.55% | +0.86% | +0.75% | +0.45% | +0.37% |
| Spain | +1.79% | +0.23% | +1.82% | −0.07% | +0.04% | +0.08% | +0.75% | +0.51% | −0.35% |
| Sweden | +0.82% | −0.19% | −0.10% | +0.74% | −0.51% | +0.24% | +0.59% | +0.43% | −0.13% |
| United Kingdom | +1.44% | +0.12% | +1.61% | +1.38% | −0.59% | −0.73% | −0.74% | +1.08% | −0.84% |
| United States | +0.81% | +0.30% | +0.10% | +0.36% | +0.47% | +0.32% | +0.14% | −0.25% | +0.20% |
- Values are shown exactly as served by the OECD database (2 decimals). The 6 August release text rounds to one decimal: it prints Greece as 3.6% where the database serves −3.65%; the two-decimal value is not more “precise” than the release, it is simply the database’s stated precision, and the figures may include revisions made after the release.
- Every figure is seasonally adjusted and compares one quarter with the quarter before it. It is not an annual rate, not a level, and not a cumulative change since any earlier year. Adding up rounded quarterly rates would not give an honest cumulative figure, so none is shown.
- The OECD and G7 aggregates are not shown among countries: they are estimates that include OECD’s own quarterly estimates for countries which do not publish this series (Korea and Türkiye) and, for the G7, an estimated tail for Japan.
- Source flag “A” means a normal (non-estimated, non-provisional) value in the database’s own vocabulary. It is not a statement of statistical significance or finality; national accounts are revised on the countries’ own schedules.
Why it matters
Whether income keeps pace with prices is what decides if a pay rise, a pension increase or a benefit uprating actually buys more. Looking at real disposable income per person puts all of these together — earnings, pensions, benefits, taxes — and asks one question: could the average resident afford more or less than three months earlier?
The same quarter looked very different across countries: from +6.02% in Hungary to −3.65% in Greece, with most countries moving by less than one percent. The OECD release attributes some of the large moves to specific items — pay growth in Hungary, property income and social benefits in Greece and Austria, taxes on income and capital gains in the United Kingdom — but those are the release’s explanations of the accounts, not causes measured in this series.
What the data do not establish
- How most people fared. This is a mean per person: a small number of high-income households can move the average while the median household sees something different. The series says nothing about inequality or about any particular household.
- Wages. Household income includes pensions, benefits, self-employment and property income and is measured after taxes and contributions; a country’s wage growth can differ from this figure in either direction.
- That prices fell. A positive real change means income grew faster than the prices households pay; prices themselves may still have risen.
- Whether earlier losses have been made up. Each value compares one quarter with the one before; a rise after a fall does not tell you whether purchasing power is back to where it was a year or two ago, and no cumulative index is built from these rounded rates.
- An annual rate. These are quarter-on-quarter changes, not annualised and not year-on-year; a 0.5% quarterly change is not a 0.5% annual change.
- Which country is better off. The chart ranks the speed of change in one quarter, not the level of income or living standards; a fast-rising country can still have lower average income than a flat one.
- Why it happened, or what comes next. The release names accounting items behind some moves; this dossier does not test causes, does not forecast the next quarter and gives no personal financial advice.
- Anything about countries outside the listed 21 — including Russia, Türkiye or Korea. No comparable published quarterly figure exists in this source, and none is substituted from the aggregates.
What to watch next
- The OECD release of 16 November 2026 with second-quarter 2026 data — and any revisions it makes to the first-quarter figures shown here.
- Whether the countries that fell in Q1 2026 (France, Sweden, Spain, Australia, United Kingdom, Belgium, Austria, Greece) fall again, and whether the large rises in Hungary and Chile persist or reverse.
- Whether Japan and Mexico return to the comparable quarter, and whether OECD begins publishing the series for more countries.
Next known signal
Next OECD “Growth and economic well-being” release — second-quarter 2026 data — scheduled for 16 November 2026 (date as listed by OECD on 6 September 2026 and re-read on 9 September 2026; it may change). The same release can revise the first-quarter figures shown here.
How this dossier is updated
Manually updated, on the source’s quarterly rhythm. World Pulse editors check the OECD release and database and publish a new version only when new or revised figures have been checked. A scheduled release date passing, or downloading the same data again, is not an update. Version 1 was prepared on 7 September 2026 from the release of 6 August 2026 and the database snapshot of 6 September 2026; it first became publicly available on 2026-09-08.
No validated forecast: this dossier records an observation and does not estimate what will happen next.
Sources and versions
Source extract — check it yourself
Every figure above maps to a row here. Quotations are verbatim from the source.
- Growth and economic well-being: first quarter 2026 (statistical release)OECDreleased 6 Aug 2026 · retrieved 6 Sept, 23:28 UTCDirect file (PDF)sha256 d1a3507a17837a756b39eab1e4ee9798e933b8895a549c661d648a23b972a5f3Release text, Figure 2 (countries) and Table 1 (G7 and aggregates, one decimal); the page lists the next release for 16 November 2026. The sha256 is of the PDF version.
- OECD Quarterly Sector Accounts — methodological note for the release (August 2026)OECDreleased 6 Aug 2026 · retrieved 6 Sept, 23:26 UTCsha256 3a68bff759b81d64e2b603719759d9af1c577f9a62b33a2dad4f536be1550200Dated “August 2026” (the edition accompanying the 6 August release). Sections “Definition of indicators”, “Zones’ aggregates”, “Seasonal Adjustment”, “Revisions Policy”, “Data presentation”.
- OECD Household Dashboard database — real household gross disposable income per capita, growth rate (SDMX API snapshot, CSV)OECDreleased 6 Aug 2026 · retrieved 6 Sept, 23:25 UTCsha256 bcf494407556aa42d1529ffe16f3fe2b0bff8053dc8f0f920dbd2df8b4f70f20Dataflow OECD.SDD.NAD,DSD_HHDASH@DF_HHDASH_CTRY,1.1, key Q..B6GS1M_R_POP_GR.PC, 2024-Q1–2026-Q1, 220 rows. Live database snapshot: first retrieved 6 September 2026 22:59:59 UTC by the World Pulse product lead, re-retrieved byte-identical at 23:25:33 UTC. “Released” is the date of the accompanying release; the database may carry later revisions.
| Figure | Value | Where in the source | Verbatim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Countries rising and falling, Q1 2026 vs Q4 2025 | 13 up · 8 down · 21 countries | Growth and economic well-being: first quarter 2026 (statistical release)First paragraph of the release | Among the 21 countries with available data, 13 recorded growth in real household income per capita, and 8 recorded a contraction. |
| The same count recomputed from the database snapshot | 13 > 0 · 8 < 0 · 0 = 0 (21 country rows for 2026-Q1; 17 within ±1%) | OECD Household Dashboard database — real household gross disposable income per capita, growth rate (SDMX API snapshot, CSV)Rows with TIME_PERIOD 2026-Q1, REF_AREA not OECD or G7; script frontend/scripts/build-question-data.mjs | — |
| Largest rises | Hungary +6.02% · Chile +4.79% (release text: 6.0%, 4.8%) | Growth and economic well-being: first quarter 2026 (statistical release)Third paragraph | In Hungary, a 6.3% increase in remuneration of employees drove real household income per capita growth, up from 1.7% in Q4 2025 to 6.0% in Q1 2026. […] Chile, which increased by 4.8% in Q1 2026, after zero growth in Q4 2025. |
| Largest falls | Greece −3.65% · Austria −2.76% (release text: 3.6%, 2.8%) | Growth and economic well-being: first quarter 2026 (statistical release)Third paragraph | By contrast, the largest decreases in Q1 2026 were recorded in Greece and Austria, where real household income per capita was eroded by reductions in net property income and social benefits, leading to contractions by 3.6% and 2.8%, respectively. |
| United Kingdom | −0.84% (release text: 0.8%; Table 1: −0.8) | Growth and economic well-being: first quarter 2026 (statistical release)Second paragraph; Table 1 | By contrast, real household income per capita contracted in the United Kingdom by 0.8% following a 1.1% increase in the previous quarter. |
| Germany, United States, Canada | +0.22% · +0.20% · +0.19% (release text: 0.2% each) | Growth and economic well-being: first quarter 2026 (statistical release)Second paragraph; Table 1 | In Canada, Germany and the United States, real household income per capita grew by 0.2%, up from 0.0%, 0.1% and -0.2%, respectively, in Q4 2025. |
| OECD area (aggregate — not in the country comparison) | +0.2% in Q1 2026 · +0.6% in Q4 2025 | Growth and economic well-being: first quarter 2026 (statistical release)Headline | Real household income per capita in the OECD increased by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2026, a slowdown from 0.6% growth in Q4 2025. |
| What the indicator is | gross disposable income ÷ population, deflated by household consumption prices | OECD Quarterly Sector Accounts — methodological note for the release (August 2026)Section “Definition of indicators” | Household real income per capita is derived as the gross disposable income of households (HHGDI) (including NPISHs), in nominal terms, divided by the total population, and by adjusting the resulting value in current prices with the implicit deflator (price index) of final consumption expenditure of households and NPISHs (based on national currency). |
| Transfers in kind excluded | not included | OECD Quarterly Sector Accounts — methodological note for the release (August 2026)Section “Definition of indicators” | However, this data is not available for many non-European countries, so for comparability reasons and in order to compile zones’ aggregates, data for countries and zones shown in this release do not include these transfers in kind. |
| Quarter-on-quarter, not annualised | % change on the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted | OECD Quarterly Sector Accounts — methodological note for the release (August 2026)Section “Data presentation” | In the News Release and in the relevant databases, growth rates of GDP and households’ income are presented as percentage changes on the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted. Doing so, growth over the previous quarter is not annualised. |
| Aggregates include estimates for countries without published data | Korea and Türkiye estimated inside the OECD total; G7 tail for Japan estimated | OECD Quarterly Sector Accounts — methodological note for the release (August 2026)Section “Zones’ aggregates” | While these national estimates are used in the OECD-total calculation, they are not released for the relevant individual countries. […] In respect of the G7, for which Japanese HHGDI data is missing for the last quarters, the tail of the series is estimated up to the last quarter by regressing the growth rate of HHGDI for the G6 (G7 less Japan) on G7’s. |
| Japan and Mexico | Japan: latest 2025-Q1 · Mexico: latest 2025-Q4 (no 2026-Q1 observation) | OECD Household Dashboard database — real household gross disposable income per capita, growth rate (SDMX API snapshot, CSV)Rows for JPN and MEX; the note explains Japan (“Geographical coverage”) | Furthermore, income data for Japan is not available for the most recent quarters as it is currently only provided by the national statistical agency once a year. |
| Precision and flags | DECIMALS=2 · OBS_STATUS=A (“Normal value”) on all 189 country rows · CONF_STATUS=F (free for publication) | OECD Household Dashboard database — real household gross disposable income per capita, growth rate (SDMX API snapshot, CSV)Columns DECIMALS, OBS_STATUS, CONF_STATUS; codelists of DSD_HHDASH 1.1 | — |
| Next release and schedule | 16 November 2026 · around T+4.5 months after the reference quarter | Growth and economic well-being: first quarter 2026 (statistical release)“Release dates” block; note section “Revisions Policy” | Next release: 16 November 2026 |
Version history
- Version 1 (current)published by World Pulse 8 Sept, 20:00 UTC · prepared 7 Sept, 00:00 UTCFirst publication
First publication: 21 OECD countries, first quarter of 2026 compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, from the OECD release of 6 August 2026 and the database snapshot of 6 September 2026.
OECD statistical release “Growth and economic well-being: first quarter 2026” (6 August 2026), the OECD Quarterly Sector Accounts methodological note (August 2026) and one snapshot of the OECD Household Dashboard database (SDMX API, retrieved 6 September 2026, sha256 recorded below).
First published by World Pulse on 8 Sept 2026. Historical years in the chart are the source’s reference periods, not earlier World Pulse publications.