Jacinda Ardern 5th highest paid leader in OECD

  • 28/05/2018

New figures show Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is the fifth highest paid leader in all OECD countries.

Consultancy group IG studied the annual base pay of 32 member countries to figure out where each head of government sits.

Ms Ardern earns NZ$491,117 (USD $339,862) per annum, more than Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

If she was to split her salary evenly by the population of New Zealand, everyone would receive 10 cents.

With New Zealand having a lower average wage than many other OECD countries, Ms Ardern makes NZ$12.47 (USD $8.63) for every dollar earned by a Kiwi on the average wage. 

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earns NZ$762,775 (USD $527,854) per annum - more than any other head of government in the OECD.

Then comes Switzerland President Alain Berset on NZ$697,898 (USD $482,958), United States President Donald Trump on NZ$578,020 (USD $400,000), and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel on NZ$534,274 (USD $369,727).

Separate from government leaders, Queen Elizabeth II is the highest paid head of state in the OECD, receiving a sovereign grant worth NZ$155,187,224 (USD $107,392,287) every year.

Top 10 highest paid heads of government (USD):

Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull $527,854

Switzerland President Alain Berset $482,958

United States President Donald Trump $400,000

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel $369,727

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern $339,862

Austria Chancellor Sebastian Kurz $328,584

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel $278,035

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau $267,041

Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel $262,964

Denmark Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen $249,774

Leaders with the highest pay per dollar of their country's average wage (USD):

Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto $10.89

Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull $10.14

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern $8.63

Switzerland President Alain Berset $8.03

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel $7.97

Austria Chancellor Sebastian Kurz $6.80

Chile President Sebastián Piñera $6.70

United States President Donald Trump $6.65

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan $5.79

Sweden Prime Minister Stefan Löfven $5.71

Newshub.