Economic disparity is a necessary ingredient of capitalism, some say. Even so, the scale of the current level of income disparity across the globe still retains a hefty shock value. And, what better way to illustrate this paradigm than by using Apple's iPhone 17 Pro as a benchmark.
The World of Statistics has just compiled a handy overview of the iPhone Affordability Index by using the newly launched $1,099 Apple iPhone 17 Pro (256 GB) as a benchmark. The index calculates how many 8-hour workdays are needed to buy Apple's iconic smartphone at the average hourly wage rate in a given country.
As is evident from the above X post, you would need just three 8-hour workdays or 24 work hours to buy an Apple iPhone 17 Pro in Luxembourg and Switzerland. In the US, the requisite work effort rises slightly to 4 working days or 32 work hours.
For most of the G20 countries, the iPhone Affordability Index remains under 50 working days or 400 work hours. The biggest exception, however, is India, where you would need a whopping 160 working days or 1,280 work hours to amass enough cash to buy the Apple iPhone 17 Pro.
This is hardly a surprise when one considers the fact that the median monthly salary in India is just 27,300 INR ($310). Assuming four standard 40-hour work weeks in a month, this equates to an hourly wage rate of just 171 INR (nearly $2).
Of course, Apple routinely tailors its product lineup for markets such as India by launching cheaper variants like the iPhone 16e. As of the second quarter of 2025, Apple held sixth position in the Indian market, with cumulative smartphone shipments across all OEMs reaching 39 million units during the quarter, constituting a year-over-year growth of 7 percent.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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