| Intensity of Importance | Definition | Explanation |
| 1 | Equal importance in a pair | Two criteria contribute equally to the objective |
| 3 | Moderate importance | Judgment and Experience slightly favour one criterion over another |
| 5 | Strong importance | Judgment and Experience strongly favour one criterion over another |
| 7 | Very strong importance | Judgment and Experience very strongly favour one criterion over another |
| 9 | Extreme importance | The evidence favouring one criterion over another is of highest possible validity |
| 2, 4, 6, 8 | Intermediate values | When compromise is needed |
| Reciprocals | Values for inverse comparison | If criterion i had one of the above numbers assigned to it when compared with criterion j, then j has the reciprocal value when compared with i |