National average salary

The National Average Salary (or the National Average Wage) is the mean salary for the working population of a nation. It is calculated by summing all the annual salaries of all persons in work and dividing the total by the number of workers. It is not the same as the Gross domestic product (GDP) per Capita, which is calculated by dividing the GDP by the total population of a country, including the unemployed (e.g. those out of work, children etc.).

In the United States of America, the average annual wage was $36,764 in 2002. In the United Kingdom, the national average wage in 2005 was estimated at £22,411 (Approximately US$44,909) as of March 2008.

National Average Salaries are not usually directly comparable due to differences in the cost of living between countries. Currency fluctuations also make direct comparisons difficult.