🇬🇧 State of the Nation

Over the past two decades, average annual wages across major developed economies have generally trended upward—but with some important divergences.

🇺🇸 The US Leads by a Significant Margin
The United States consistently outpaces other countries in wage levels, with average annual wages climbing from around $63,000 in 2000 to over $85,000 by 2023.

This dominant position widened especially after 2015, suggesting strong wage growth in the post-recession period and possibly the effects of a tight labor market and tech-driven productivity gains.

🇨🇦🇩🇪 Canada and Germany: Strong Mid-Tier Performers
Canada (CAN) and Germany (DEU) show solid, steady wage growth.

Germany overtook Canada slightly during the early 2010s, but both countries remain closely aligned, reaching around $66,000 by 2023.

🇬🇧 UK (GBR): Flatlining Wages
The UK saw notable wage growth up to 2008, but since then, growth has stagnated.

By 2023, UK wages hover just below $60,000, lagging behind other major economies like France and Germany.

This stagnation reflects broader concerns around UK productivity, austerity impacts, and inflation-adjusted wage pressures.

🇯🇵🇮🇹 Japan and Italy: The Laggards
Japan (JPN) and Italy (ITA) have experienced virtually no real wage growth.

Their wage levels remain at around $46,000–$50,000, nearly unchanged since 2000.

This highlights structural challenges in both economies, such as aging populations and sluggish economic reform.

🔍 COVID-19 Dip and Recovery
A dip around 2020 is visible in several countries, reflecting the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US and Canada bounced back strongly, while the UK and Japan show weaker recoveries.

🇺🇸 The United States remains the global outlier, spending a significantly higher share of its GDP on healthcare—around 16.5% to 18.5% throughout the period. The sharp peak in 2020 reflects a surge in health spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with a shrinking GDP denominator, pushing the figure above 18%. Despite a slight decline after the pandemic, U.S. healthcare spending as a share of GDP remains far above that of other countries, pointing to ongoing systemic inefficiencies and cost inflation in the U.S. healthcare system.

🇩🇪 Germany (DEU) and 🇫🇷 France (FRA) are the next-highest spenders, consistently allocating 11–13% of GDP to health. Like other countries, both saw a pandemic-driven spike in 2020, followed by a moderate correction. Their spending reflects robust universal healthcare systems that expanded capacity during the crisis.

🇬🇧 The UK (GBR) experienced a noticeable COVID-driven jump in 2020, but its spending levels have since fallen below pre-pandemic trends—suggesting possible post-COVID fiscal tightening or NHS strain.

🇯🇵 Japan (JPN) and 🇮🇹 Italy (ITA) maintain lower but steady levels of health spending, ranging between 8.5% and 11% of GDP. Italy, in particular, shows a decline after 2021, hinting at either reduced public investment or a relative rebound in GDP not matched by health spending growth.

🔴 Children
Children have persistently faced the highest poverty rates among all groups, consistently above 28–30%. Despite some improvement in the early 2000s, child poverty saw a renewed uptick post-2010, indicating enduring structural issues related to low household income, benefit changes, and housing costs.

🟦 Working-Age Adults with Children
This group has followed a similar trajectory, with poverty rates hovering around 25%, remaining elevated and relatively flat over the past two decades. This underscores the financial vulnerability of families raising children, particularly amid wage stagnation and cuts to in-work benefits.

⚫ All People (National Average)
The overall poverty rate has been relatively stable, around 22–24%, masking disparities between household types. It provides a baseline that highlights how children and parents consistently fare worse than average.

🟩 Pensioners
There has been a remarkable reduction in pensioner poverty, falling sharply in the early 2000s and stabilizing at the lowest level of all groups, around 14–16%. This reflects the success of pension reforms, guaranteed income programs, and targeted support like Winter Fuel Payments.

🔷 Working-Age Adults without Children
This group has the second-lowest poverty rate, just above pensioners, and has seen modest fluctuations. The relative economic stability may be due to fewer dependents, dual-income households, and eligibility for in-work support.