Guide
Why do the wages on this site say PPP — and can I compare them with GDP?
PPP dollars and market dollars are different dollars
Wages on this site are converted at purchasing power parity — what money buys locally — while GDP per capita uses market exchange rates. Subtracting one from the other compares two different dollars, and the page will not stop you unless it says so.
Two conversions, two meanings
A Vietnamese salary converted at the market exchange rate tells you what it buys in New York. Converted at purchasing power parity, it tells you what it buys in Vietnam — where the earner actually shops. For comparing living standards, PPP is the honest conversion; for comparing what you could remit or invest abroad, the market rate is.
That is why monthly earnings of $1,198 PPP in Vietnam is a statement about local groceries, rent and petrol — not about a bank transfer.
The trap on this very site
Our GDP per capita is in current dollars at market rates; our wages and incomes are PPP. Until 1 August 2026 both rendered identically as a bare dollar figure, inviting a subtraction that means nothing. They now carry different suffixes — $60,496 versus $5,760 PPP/mo — precisely so the difference is visible at the moment of comparison.
The general rule: never do arithmetic across two currency figures until you know both conversions. A ratio of a PPP number to a market-rate number is not a ratio of anything real.
The data this guide is about