Updated 24 October 2026
Quick answer: Employers around the world are planning salary increases of about 3% to 3.5% for 2027 in most rich economies, roughly the same as in 2026. Surveys put the United States at 3.3% to 3.5%, Canada at about 3.1% to 3.5%, the United Kingdom at 3.1% to 3.5%, Germany at 3.0% to 3.3%, France at 2.6% to 3.2%, Australia at 3.2% to 3.4% and Japan at about 3%. Emerging economies are higher: India at about 9%, Vietnam at about 7%, Indonesia at about 6%, the Philippines and Poland at about 5%, Brazil and Mexico at 4% to 5%. Because oil prices pushed inflation back up in 2026, the typical raise in the US, the UK, most of the euro area and Australia is now slightly below inflation, a small real pay cut, while India and Japan are on course for real gains. The interactive table below brings every major survey into one place, so you can see your country's range and compare it with inflation.
Every autumn, consulting firms survey thousands of employers about how much they plan to spend on pay rises next year. Their findings come out one survey at a time, in separate press releases and paywalled reports, each covering different countries and measuring slightly different things. If you want to know what a normal raise will be in your country in 2027, or how your country compares with others, you usually have to piece it together yourself.
We have done that here. This guide combines the 2027 forecasts published by Payscale, Korn Ferry, WTW, Aon, Mercer and others for 29 countries, compares them with the latest inflation figures, and explains what they mean for your next pay review.
| Country | Raise | Inflation | Real |
|---|---|---|---|
| IndiaAsia-Pacific | 8.9% | 5.5% | +3.2% |
| VietnamAsia-Pacific | 6.8% | — | — |
| IndonesiaAsia-Pacific | 5.8% | — | — |
| PhilippinesAsia-Pacific | 5.2% | — | — |
| PolandEurope | 5.0% | — | — |
| South AfricaAfrica | 5.0% | — | — |
| MexicoLatin America | 4.9% | — | — |
| MalaysiaAsia-Pacific | 4.8% | — | — |
| ThailandAsia-Pacific | 4.6% | — | — |
| BrazilLatin America | 4.5% | — | — |
| ChinaAsia-Pacific | 4.3% | — | — |
| South KoreaAsia-Pacific | 4.1% | — | — |
| SingaporeAsia-Pacific | 4.0% | — | — |
| United StatesNorth America | 3.4% | 3.7% | −0.3% |
| IrelandEurope | 3.4% | — | — |
| ItalyEurope | 3.4% | 4.1% | −0.7% |
| Saudi ArabiaMiddle East | 3.4% | — | — |
| United KingdomEurope | 3.3% | 3.5% | −0.2% |
| NetherlandsEurope | 3.3% | — | — |
| United Arab EmiratesMiddle East | 3.3% | — | — |
| AustraliaAsia-Pacific | 3.3% | 4.0%Aug | −0.7% |
| CanadaNorth America | 3.2% | 3.1% | +0.1% |
| SpainEurope | 3.2% | 5.0% | −1.7% |
| New ZealandAsia-Pacific | 3.2% | — | — |
| GermanyEurope | 3.1% | 3.3% | −0.2% |
| SwedenEurope | 3.0% | — | — |
| JapanAsia-Pacific | 3.0% | 1.7%Aug, core | +1.3% |
| FranceEurope | 2.9% | 3.4% | −0.5% |
| FinlandEurope | 2.9% | — | — |
Where These Numbers Come From
Salary budget surveys ask employers what percentage of their total payroll they plan to spend on pay increases in the coming year. The main surveys used here are:
- Payscale: 1,266 organisations in the US, Canada and 19 other countries, surveyed in May and June 2026, with 2027 projections and 2026 actual increases.
- Korn Ferry: its Global Total Rewards Pulse Survey, published on 30 July 2026, covering 5,512 organisations in 135 countries, with published figures for 14 major markets.
- WTW: its Salary Budget Planning Report, based on 34,024 responses from companies in 156 countries between March and May 2026.
- Aon: separate studies for Southeast Asia (more than 1,200 businesses, July to September 2026) and India (more than 1,200 organisations across 45 industries).
- Mercer (now part of Marsh): its QuickPulse surveys of employers in the US and Canada, mid-2026.
For each country, our "2027 raise" figure is the simple average of the forecasts we found. Where surveys disagree, the table shows each one when you tap the country. Most countries have two or three sources; a few have one.
Budgets Are Not Promises
Before reading too much into a single number, it helps to understand what these surveys measure:
- They are averages across employers and employees. A 3.5% budget means the employer plans to spend 3.5% more on pay overall. Some people will get nothing, others 6% or more.
- "Merit" and "total" budgets differ. Merit budgets cover performance-based raises; total budgets also include promotions and market adjustments. In the US, Mercer found a 3.2% merit budget but a 3.5% total budget for 2027.
- Averages and medians differ. Korn Ferry reports both: in the US, the average is 3.3% but the median is 3.0%, because a minority of employers plan much larger increases.
- Forecasts are preliminary. In Mercer's July 2026 survey, 87% of US employers said their 2027 budgets were still provisional. Budgets can change, especially if the economy shifts.
- Collective agreements work differently. In countries with strong unions, such as much of Europe and Japan, many workers' pay is set by negotiated agreements rather than company budgets.
The Global Picture: "The Land of 3%"
The clearest message from the 2027 surveys is stability. Korn Ferry found that, across most major markets, planned 2027 budgets are the same as or slightly below what employers actually paid in 2026. WTW's US figure is 3.4% for 2027, against 3.5% paid in 2026; one of its compensation leaders described employers as settling into the "land of 3%" for the foreseeable future.
That stability reflects a cooling but still steady job market. The surge in raises in 2022 and 2023, when US budgets reached around 4% to 4.5% and many workers changed jobs for big pay jumps, has faded. Employers in WTW's survey named cost management (32%), labour market conditions (28%) and inflation (27%) as the main forces shaping their budgets.
What has changed since the surveys were taken is inflation. Most of them were completed before or during the energy price spike that followed the conflict involving Iran in early 2026. By September, inflation had risen to 3.7% in the US, 3.5% in the UK and 3.8% in the euro area, enough to wipe out the real value of a typical raise.
North America
United States
US forecasts cluster tightly between 3.3% and 3.5%: Payscale 3.5%, Mercer 3.5% (total), WTW 3.4% and Korn Ferry 3.3% (average). Payscale found 2026 actual increases of 3.4%. Mercer's industry figures show the highest merit budgets in high technology (3.8%), banking (3.7%) and energy and insurance (3.6% each), and the lowest in consumer goods (2.9%).
With inflation at 3.7% in September 2026, the typical US raise is slightly below inflation. Workers changing jobs have recently done a little better: the Atlanta Fed's wage tracker showed pay growth of about 4.4% a year for job switchers in mid-2026, against 3.6% for people who stayed.
Canada
Canadian forecasts range from 3.1% to 3.5%: Payscale 3.5%, Mercer 3.2% (total, with merit at 3.0%), Korn Ferry 3.1% and Normandin Beaudry 3.1%. Canadian inflation was 3.1% in September, so the typical raise roughly keeps pace.
Europe
European forecasts are among the lowest in the world, mostly between 2.6% and 3.5%, and they sit in a region where inflation has risen sharply in 2026.
- United Kingdom: 3.1% to 3.5% (Korn Ferry 3.1%, Payscale 3.5%). UK inflation was 3.5% in September.
- Germany: 3.0% to 3.3%, against inflation of 3.3%.
- France: 2.6% to 3.2%, the lowest forecasts of any major economy in Korn Ferry's survey, against inflation of 3.4%.
- Italy: about 3.4% on average, though Korn Ferry's median is 3.0%; inflation was 4.1%.
- Spain: about 3.2%, against inflation of 5.0%, the widest gap in our table.
- Netherlands and Ireland: about 3.3% to 3.4%.
- Nordics: Sweden about 3.0% and Finland about 2.9%, among the lowest in the table.
- Poland: about 5.0%, the highest in Europe, reflecting faster growth and a tighter labour market.
The European Central Bank's own wage tracker, which follows collective agreements across the euro area, points to negotiated wage growth of about 2.7% in early 2027, consistent with the company surveys. For many European workers, 2027 therefore looks like another year of falling real pay unless inflation eases.
Asia-Pacific
India
India continues to lead major economies by a wide margin. Aon projects salary increases of 9.1% in 2027, after an actual 9.0% in 2026; Payscale's forecast is 8.8%. Within India, Aon expects the highest increases in non-bank financial companies (10.1%), energy (9.9%) and real estate and infrastructure (9.8%), and the lowest in technology consulting and services (6.6%). Attrition rose to about 18% in 2026, one reason employers continue to pay up. With inflation at about 5.5% in September 2026, Indian workers are on course for one of the largest real pay gains anywhere.
Southeast Asia
Aon projects 5.2% for Southeast Asia as a whole in 2027, up slightly from 5.0% in 2026. WTW's figures are similar. Vietnam leads at 6.7% to 7.0%, followed by Indonesia (5.5% to 6.0%), the Philippines (5.1% to 5.3%), Malaysia (4.7% to 4.8%), Thailand (4.6%) and Singapore (about 4%), where Payscale's figure is a little lower at 3.8%.
China, Japan, South Korea and Australia
- China: 4.2% to 4.5%, slightly up on 2026.
- Japan: about 3.0% to 3.1% in the company surveys. This differs from Japan's spring wage negotiations, or shunto, which produced average raises of 5.01% at unionised companies in 2026; that figure includes automatic seniority-based increases and covers mainly large firms. With core inflation below 2% in mid-2026, Japan is one of the few rich economies on course for real pay growth.
- South Korea: about 4.1%.
- Australia and New Zealand: about 3.2% to 3.4%. Australian inflation was 4.0% in August, so a typical raise falls short.
Middle East, Africa and Latin America
- United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia: about 3.3% to 3.4% on average in Korn Ferry's survey, a little below 2026, with medians of about 3.0% to 3.2%. WTW expects increases in Gulf states to stay in line with or above inflation, while pay lags inflation in Egypt and Lebanon.
- South Africa: about 5.0%, up from 4.1% paid in 2026, according to Payscale.
- Brazil: 4.2% to 4.8%, the highest of the major markets in Korn Ferry's survey.
- Mexico: about 4.9%.
Real Raises: Who Comes Out Ahead?
A pay rise only improves your standard of living if it beats inflation. Comparing the typical 2027 raise with the latest inflation rate in each country:
- Likely real gains: India (about +3%), Japan (about +1%), and roughly break-even in Canada.
- Likely small real cuts: the United States, United Kingdom and Germany (about 0.2% to 0.3% below inflation), France (about 0.5% below), Italy and Australia (about 0.7% below).
- Largest shortfall: Spain, where the typical raise is about 1.7 percentage points below inflation.
Two caveats matter. First, these comparisons use inflation now, while the raises will be paid during 2027; if oil prices fall and inflation eases, as the IMF expects globally, real pay could improve. The IMF's October 2026 outlook projects global inflation easing from 4.7% in 2026 to 4.1% in 2027, though it puts the chance of it exceeding 5% at about one in three. Second, your own inflation rate depends on what you spend money on.
To check your own raise against inflation, use our real raise calculator.
Why Some Countries Pay More
The differences between countries are not mainly about generosity. Raises tend to be larger where:
- Inflation is structurally higher, as in India, Brazil, South Africa and much of Southeast Asia, so nominal raises must be larger to keep pace.
- Economies are growing faster, raising productivity and demand for skilled workers, as in Vietnam, India and Indonesia.
- Labour markets are tight and staff turnover is high, so employers pay more to keep people.
- Wages are starting from a lower base, so they are catching up with richer countries.
That is why a 9% raise in India and a 3.5% raise in the US can represent similar real progress in some years. Always compare a raise with local inflation, not with raises in other countries.
Which Workers Will Get More
Within any country, the budget is divided unevenly. Across the surveys, the people most likely to receive above-average increases in 2027 are:
- Top performers: merit systems typically give the highest-rated employees one and a half to two times the average.
- People promoted: promotions usually come with 10% or more, outside the regular budget in many companies.
- Scarce skills: AI and machine learning, cybersecurity, data engineering, some healthcare roles and skilled trades.
- Employees paid below the range for their role, whom employers often bring towards the midpoint.
- People who change employers, who can negotiate a new salary at market rates.
Employers also say they are focusing budgets more tightly. WTW found more companies differentiating pay by performance and skills rather than spreading the budget evenly, which means the gap between the best and average raises may widen.
How to Use This Data in Your Pay Review
- Find your country's range in the table, and note the typical raise and inflation.
- Check your industry. Technology and banking budgets are often higher than average; consumer goods and public sector budgets lower.
- Calculate your real raise with our calculator: a raise below inflation is a real pay cut.
- Gather evidence of your contribution: projects delivered, money earned or saved, responsibilities added.
- Bring market data for your specific role and location from job adverts, salary sites and recruiters. Pay transparency laws in several US states and the EU's Pay Transparency Directive make this easier.
- Ask before budgets are fixed, typically two to three months before your review.
For a full guide to making the case, see our article on What Is a Fair Pay Raise in 2026? How to Work Out Your Real Raise After Inflation.
What Could Change Before 2027
- Oil and inflation: if energy prices fall back, inflation could ease and real raises turn positive in more countries. If the conflict in the Gulf flares again, the reverse.
- Interest rates: higher rates are slowing hiring in many economies, which tends to restrain pay.
- Artificial intelligence: AI was the most common reason given for US job cuts in 2026, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Employers may spend more on scarce AI skills and less on roles being automated.
- Final budgets: many employers finalise budgets in the fourth quarter. We will update this page as final figures and new surveys are published.
Comparing Raises Across Countries: Three Pitfalls
Tables like the one above invite comparisons between countries, and some are more meaningful than others.
- Percentages are not pay levels. A 9% raise on a lower salary can be a smaller amount of money than a 3% raise on a higher one. The table tells you how fast pay is growing, not how high it is.
- Currencies move. If you earn in one currency and spend or save in another, exchange rates can matter more than your raise. An Indian salary rising 9% is worth less in dollars if the rupee falls 5% against the dollar in the same year.
- Surveys cover formal employers. They are based mainly on medium and large companies, often multinationals. In countries with large informal sectors, such as India, Indonesia or Brazil, many workers' pay moves differently from these budgets.
The most useful comparison is therefore within your own country: your raise against your country's typical raise and its inflation rate.
Data Notes and Updates
We include every survey we could find that publishes country figures for 2027 openly, and we link to each one in the Sources section below. Where a survey reports both a median and an average, we use the average, as most others do. Inflation figures are the latest official consumer price index releases; where a recent figure could not be confirmed, the cell is left blank rather than estimated. We will add new surveys, such as year-end forecasts from other consulting firms, and update inflation as new data is published, with the date at the top of the page showing the latest revision.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary increase for 2027?
About 3% to 3.5% in most developed economies, including the US, UK, Canada, Germany and Australia. Emerging economies are higher, from about 4% to 5% in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Poland to about 9% in India.
Which country has the highest salary increases in 2027?
Among the countries in published surveys, India has the highest forecasts, at about 8.8% to 9.1%, followed by Vietnam at about 6.7% to 7.0% and Indonesia at about 5.5% to 6.0%.
Which country has the lowest?
France (2.6% to 3.2%), Finland (about 2.9%) and Sweden (about 3.0%) have the lowest forecasts in the surveys we reviewed.
Will 2027 raises beat inflation?
In India, Japan and roughly Canada, probably yes. In the US, UK, most of the euro area and Australia, the typical raise is slightly below current inflation, although that could change if inflation falls during 2027.
Is a 3% raise good in 2027?
It is close to average in most developed economies, but below current inflation in many of them. For a strong performer, it is on the low side.
Why do the surveys give different numbers?
They survey different employers, at different times, and measure slightly different things: merit or total budgets, averages or medians. The differences are usually small, under half a percentage point.
Do these forecasts include bonuses?
No. Salary increase budgets cover increases to base pay. Bonuses, profit-sharing and equity awards are budgeted separately and can add significantly to total pay in some industries and countries.
When are 2027 salary budgets finalised?
Most large employers finalise budgets between October and December, ahead of reviews early in the year. Surveys published in the autumn are the best guide until then.
Final Thoughts
The 2027 surveys tell a consistent story: employers in most rich economies plan raises of about 3% to 3.5%, little changed from 2026, while faster-growing emerging markets continue to offer much larger increases. The difference this year is inflation, which rose again in 2026 and now erodes the typical raise in many countries.
That makes the conversation about pay more important, not less. Know your country's range, know your own real raise, and bring evidence of what you contribute and what the market pays for your role. The average is a starting point for the discussion, not a ceiling.
Sources
- WorldatWork: Payscale 2027 salary budget forecasts by country
- WorldatWork: Korn Ferry Global Total Rewards Pulse Survey, 2027 projections
- WTW: salary increase budgets expected to average 3.4% in 2027
- Metrobank Wealth Insights: WTW 2027 forecasts for the Philippines and Southeast Asia
- Aon: Southeast Asia salary increases projected at 5.2% in 2027
- Aon: salaries in India projected to rise 9.1% in 2027
- Mercer: US employers stick with moderate pay increases for 2027
- Canadian HR Reporter: Canadian employers hold the line on salary increases for 2027
- Daily Hive: Canadian salary increase forecasts for 2027, including Normandin Beaudry
- IMF: World Economic Outlook, October 2026
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index
- UK Office for National Statistics: inflation and price indices
- Eurostat: euro area inflation (HICP)
- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: Wage Growth Tracker
Related Guides
- Compare Countries 2026: Minimum Wage, Tax, Mortgage Rates, Energy and Pension Age in 35 Countries
- Minimum Wage by Country 2026: Hourly and Monthly Rates in US Dollars
- What Is a Fair Pay Raise in 2026? How to Work Out Your Real Raise After Inflation
- Why Are Prices Still So High When Inflation Has Come Down?
- Jobs AI Is Replacing in 2026, and the Skills That Keep You Employed
- How to Strengthen Your Position at Work
- How to Explain a Layoff or Career Gap in an Interview (Without Lying)
Forecasts are from Payscale, Korn Ferry, WTW, Aon, Mercer and Normandin Beaudry, published between July and October 2026; inflation figures are the latest official releases, mostly for September 2026. Figures will be updated as new surveys appear. This article is for information and isn't financial or employment advice.
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