Across 71 countries, a public-school teacher must spend between 1.8 min (Hong Kong) and 577 h (Venezuela) teaching to afford a single Big Mac — a median of 8.4 min. Figures use The Economist's Big Mac Index divided by local pay.
| # | Country | Teaching time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 1.8 min |
| 2 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 2.3 min |
| 3 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 2.8 min |
| 4 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 3.0 min |
| 5 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 3.1 min |
| 6 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 3.1 min |
| 7 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 3.5 min |
| 8 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 3.5 min |
| 9 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 3.6 min |
| 10 | 🇶🇦 Qatar | 3.6 min |
| 11 | 🇧🇪 Belgium | 3.7 min |
| 12 | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | 3.9 min |
| 13 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 3.9 min |
| 14 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 4.2 min |
| 15 | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 4.2 min |
| 16 | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 4.3 min |
| 17 | 🇺🇸 United States | 4.3 min |
| 18 | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | 4.3 min |
| 19 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 4.4 min |
| 20 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 4.4 min |
| 21 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 4.7 min |
| 22 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | 5.5 min |
| 23 | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | 5.6 min |
| 24 | 🇮🇱 Israel | 5.8 min |
| 25 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 5.9 min |
Hong Kong, at 1.8 min of teaching.
Venezuela, at 577 h.
8.4 min of teaching to afford one Big Mac.
Annual public-school teacher salary ÷ annual net teaching (contact) hours gives pay per teaching minute; the local Big Mac price ÷ that rate gives the minutes. It is pay per minute of lecturing, not take-home pay.