By Aaron Rockwell, Staff Writer
Using the U.S. Bureau, I was able to make a rough calculation that MBA graduates make 1.547 times more money than U.S. average wage. Though it may not be true in every country, it will be the baseline of this analysis. Also, at times countries will be passed over because they are too small or have missing data, e.g., Luxembourg.
Top 10 Average Expected MBA Salaries by Country:
The table below has purposely not included the PPP (purchasing power parity) because it’s to drive a decision of where to work if you believe you can out-save the cost of living (if you pinch pennies better than the rest). I will then pair this table up with the countries in which, if you save a bunch of money, your dollar will go the farthest and you will get the most bang for retirement (answered further down the line):
| Rank | Country | Expected MBA Salary |
| 1 | Norway | $145,173 |
| 2 | Qatar | $132,191 |
| 3 | Switzerland | $130,257 |
| 4 | Australia | $92,950 |
| 5 | Denmark | $90,660 |
| 6 | Sweden | $89,453 |
| 7 | United States | $85,043 |
| 8 | Singapore | $80,602 |
| 9 | Netherlands | $75,728 |
| 10 | Canada | $73,500 |
Top 10 Average Expected MBA Salaries by Country including PPP:
If you want to enjoy your life in leisure, here are countries where the PPP ratio creates a cushy lifestyle. From my perspective, some of the gulf states are probably disproportionally skewed from being oil rich with lower populations, but you can come to your own conclusions. Also, yes, Hong Kong is not a country, but I threw it on here anyway! (P.S.- Number 11 is the Netherlands.)
| Rank | Country | Expected MBA | PPP Ratio | Salary to PPP Ratio |
| 1 | Qatar | $132,191 | 0.519 | $254,563 |
| 2 | Kuwait | $63,333 | 0.406 | $155,821 |
| 3 | Singapore | $80,602 | 0.621 | $129,858 |
| 4 | Norway | $145,173 | 1.216 | $119,410 |
| 5 | United Arab Emirates | $66,800 | 0.576 | $116,025 |
| 6 | Switzerland | $130,257 | 1.325 | $98,300 |
| 7 | Saudi Arabia | $36,440 | 0.383 | $95,061 |
| 8 | Hong Kong | $63,442 | 0.748 | $84,822 |
| 9 | United States | $85,043 | 1.005 | $84,620 |
| 10 | Sweden | $89,453 | 1.083 | $82,598 |
Lowest PPP Ratio:
These would be the countries you would want to retire in after you’ve hoarded a pile of sweet money. You would probably want to consider social-economic-political factors before blindly choosing the one. Also, I never noticed before how close phonetically Nepal sounds to nipple, definitely a factor you should consider for your retirement decision-making process.
| Rank | Country | GNI per capita | PPP Ratio |
| 1 | Malawi | $350 | 0.209 |
| 2 | India | $1,590 | 0.262 |
| 3 | Ukraine | $2,620 | 0.267 |
| 4 | Gambia | $470 | 0.270 |
| 5 | Mali | $790 | 0.282 |
| 6 | Pakistan | $1,440 | 0.283 |
| 7 | Algeria | $4,870 | 0.286 |
| 8 | Nepal | $730 | 0.298 |
| 9 | Madagascar | $420 | 0.300 |
| 10 | Indonesia | $3,440 | 0.303 |
Conclusion:
Work in Norway and retire in Malawi. So, it’s probably time to start brushing up on your Norwegian and Chichewa (Malawi official language).
Methodology:
PPP ratio was uncovered using Nominal GDP versus GDP PPP from data provided from the World Bank. GNI not to include PPP (for a specific reason) was also taken from World Bank data.