Incidence of low and high pay — High pay Incidence in OECD

OECD: Incidence of low and high pay — High pay Incidence was 19.61 Percentage of full-time employment in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
19.61 Percentage of full-time employment
Change on year
down 6.5%
World rank
21st
of 32 countries
All-time high
22.5 Percentage of full-time employment
in 1999
All-time low
19.61 Percentage of full-time employment
in 2024
Years of data
30
1995–2024

Incidence of low and high pay — High pay Incidence in OECD, 1995–2024

051015201995200920241995: 22.2 Percentage of full-time employment1996: 22.2 Percentage of full-time employment1997: 22.3 Percentage of full-time employment1998: 22.4 Percentage of full-time employment1999: 22.5 Percentage of full-time employment2000: 22.4 Percentage of full-time employment2001: 22.2 Percentage of full-time employment2002: 22.2 Percentage of full-time employment2003: 22.2 Percentage of full-time employment2004: 22.2 Percentage of full-time employment2005: 22.1 Percentage of full-time employment2006: 22.3 Percentage of full-time employment2007: 22.4 Percentage of full-time employment2008: 22.3 Percentage of full-time employment2009: 22.5 Percentage of full-time employment2010: 22.5 Percentage of full-time employment2011: 22.4 Percentage of full-time employment2012: 22.3 Percentage of full-time employment2013: 22.4 Percentage of full-time employment2014: 22.3 Percentage of full-time employment2015: 22.1 Percentage of full-time employment2016: 22 Percentage of full-time employment2017: 22 Percentage of full-time employment2018: 21.7 Percentage of full-time employment2019: 21.8 Percentage of full-time employment2020: 21.9 Percentage of full-time employment2021: 20.8 Percentage of full-time employment2022: 20.2 Percentage of full-time employment2023: 21 Percentage of full-time employment2024: 19.6 Percentage of full-time employment

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of full-time employment.

Analysis

In 2024, incidence of low and high pay — high pay incidence in OECD stood at 19.61 Percentage of full-time employment. That is the lowest value across all 30 years on record.

That represents a change of down 6.5% on the previous year and down 12.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, incidence of low and high pay — high pay incidence in OECD peaked at 22.5 Percentage of full-time employment in 1999 and was at its lowest, 19.61 Percentage of full-time employment, in 2024.

OECD ranks 21st of 32 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 30 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 22.32 Percentage of full-time employment 22.19 Percentage of full-time employment 22.5 Percentage of full-time employment 5
2000s 22.27 Percentage of full-time employment 22.1 Percentage of full-time employment 22.47 Percentage of full-time employment 10
2010s 22.14 Percentage of full-time employment 21.71 Percentage of full-time employment 22.46 Percentage of full-time employment 10
2020s 20.69 Percentage of full-time employment 19.61 Percentage of full-time employment 21.85 Percentage of full-time employment 5

Countries ranked near OECD

  1. 18 Mexico 20.79 Percentage of full-time employment compare
  2. 19 Greece 20.2 Percentage of full-time employment compare
  3. 20 Australia 19.95 Percentage of full-time employment compare
  4. 22 Austria 19.42 Percentage of full-time employment compare
  5. 23 Costa Rica 19.27 Percentage of full-time employment compare
  6. 24 France 19 Percentage of full-time employment compare

See the full ranking of 40 places →

More reference data data for OECD

All data for OECD →

Frequently asked questions

What is incidence of low and high pay — high pay incidence in OECD?
Incidence of low and high pay — high pay incidence in OECD was 19.61 Percentage of full-time employment in 2024, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest incidence of low and high pay — high pay incidence recorded in OECD?
The highest recorded value was 22.5 Percentage of full-time employment in 1999.
What is the lowest incidence of low and high pay — high pay incidence recorded in OECD?
The lowest recorded value was 19.61 Percentage of full-time employment in 2024.
How does OECD rank for incidence of low and high pay — high pay incidence?
OECD ranks 21st out of 32 countries with data for 2024.
Is incidence of low and high pay — high pay incidence rising or falling in OECD?
Over the last ten years it is down 12.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this OECD data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Incidence of low and high pay — High pay Incidence. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Incidence of low and high pay — High pay Incidence in OECD. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 20 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/incidence-of-low-and-high-pay-high-pay-incidence/oecd/

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About this data

Indicator
Incidence of low and high pay — High pay Incidence
Unit
Percentage of full-time employment
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
40 places, 618 data points, 1985–2025
Last refreshed

This dataset contains series on the incidence of low-paid workers defined as the share of full-time workers earning less than two-thirds of gross median earnings of all full-time workers; the incidence of high-paid workers defined as the share of full-time workers earning more than one-and-half time gross median earnings of all full-time workers.