These Are The Countries Where $1,000 Takes The Longest To Earn

The article ranks countries by how long the average worker must work to earn $1,000, using OECD data on annual wages and Our World in Data figures for annual working hours. The calculations use purchasing power parity (PPP)-adjusted dollars and exclude taxes, allowing comparisons based on local price levels rather than exchange rates. In Colombia, it takes about 86 hours to earn $1,000, while in Luxembourg and Iceland it takes just 16 hours. The gap means the lowest-ranked countries require more than five times the work of the highest-ranked. In Europe, countries such as Luxembourg, Iceland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands require fewer than 20 hours, whereas the U.S. needs about 22 hours, placing it among stronger earners but behind multiple European economies. At the bottom, Colombia (86 hours) and Mexico (78 hours) contrast with higher-income Nordic economies where high wages and productivity coincide. The article attributes lower earnings in low-income countries to factors including weaker wage growth, lower productivity, larger informal sectors, and reduced access to capital.