Brussels – In 2017, average hourly labour costs in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration) were estimated to be €26.8 in the European Union (EU) and €30.3 in the euro area. However, this average masks significant gaps between EU Member States, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria (€4.9), Romania (€6.3), Lithuania (€8.0), Latvia (€8.1), Hungary (€9.1) and Poland (€9.4), and the highest in Denmark (€42.5), Belgium (€39.6), Luxembourg (€37.6), Sweden (€36.6) and France (€36.0). Italy is at 28,2.
Hourly labour costs in industry were €27.4 in the EU and €33.4 in the euro area. In services, they were €26.6 and €29.3, respectively. In construction, hourly labour costs were €23.7 in the EU and €26.7 in the euro area. In the mainly non-business economy (excluding public administration), they were €27.2 and €30.1, respectively.
Labour costs consist of wages & salaries and non-wage costs (e.g. employers’ social contributions). The share of non-wage costs in total labour costs for the whole economy was 24.0% in the EU and 25.9% in the euro area. It ranged from 6.7% in Malta to 32.8% in France. In Italy its is at 27,5%
These estimates are issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Data cover enterprises with 10 or more employees and are based on Labour Cost Survey data for 2012, which are extrapolated through the Labour Cost Index.
Hourly labour costs in € for the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration),
in enterprises with 10 or more employees
2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Non-wage costs, 2017 (% of total) | Change 2017/2016, % | |
EU | 19.8 | 21.9 | 24.5 | 25.7 | 26.2 | 26.8 | 24.0 | 2.3 |
Euro area | 23.0 | 25.1 | 28.3 | 29.3 | 29.8 | 30.3 | 25.9 | 1.9 |
Belgium | 29.2 | 32.9 | 38.0 | 39.1 | 39.2 | 39.6 | 27.1 | 1.3 |
Bulgaria | 1.6 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 15.9 | 12.0 |
Czech Republic | 5.8 | 9.2 | 10.0 | 9.8 | 10.1 | 11.3 | 27.0 | 11.3 |
Denmark | 29.6 | 34.6 | 39.4 | 41.2 | 41.6 | 42.5 | 13.8 | 2.0 |
Germany | 26.8 | 27.9 | 30.5 | 32.3 | 33.2 | 34.1 | 22.6 | 2.6 |
Estonia | 4.3 | 7.9 | 8.6 | 10.4 | 10.9 | 11.7 | 26.2 | 7.4 |
Ireland | 25.3 | 28.9 | 29.8 | 30.0 | 30.4 | 31.0 | 13.7 | 1.9 |
Greece | 15.3 | 16.8 | 15.7 | 14.1 | 14.2 | 14.5 | 25.7 | 2.2 |
Spain | 16.5 | 19.4 | 21.1 | 21.2 | 21.1 | 21.2 | 25.0 | 0.5 |
France | 28.2 | 31.2 | 34.3 | 35.1 | 35.6 | 36.0 | 32.8 | 1.1 |
Croatia | 6.9 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 10.0 | 10.6 | 15.0 | 6.0 |
Italy | 22.4 | 25.2 | 27.7 | 28.1 | 28.0 | 28.2 | 27.5 | 0.8 |
Cyprus | 12.5 | 16.7 | 16.8 | 15.7 | 15.8 | 16.0 | 16.7 | 1.1 |
Latvia | 2.7 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 20.4 | 7.0 |
Lithuania | 3.2 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 6.8 | 7.3 | 8.0 | 28.3 | 9.0 |
Luxembourg | 30.3 | 31.0 | 33.9 | 36.3 | 36.7 | 37.6 | 11.9 | 2.5 |
Hungary | 5.9 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 21.1 | 10.0 |
Malta | 9.6 | 11.4 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 13.8 | 6.7 | 2.0 |
Netherlands | 27.4 | 29.8 | 32.5 | 33.7 | 34.0 | 34.8 | 24.0 | 2.4 |
Austria | 25.2 | 26.4 | 29.7 | 32.5 | 33.2 | 34.1 | 26.7 | 2.6 |
Poland | 4.7 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 9.4 | 18.4 | 8.7 |
Portugal | 11.3 | 12.2 | 13.3 | 13.4 | 13.7 | 14.1 | 20.2 | 3.0 |
Romania | 1.9 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 19.8 | 15.0 |
Slovenia | 11.2 | 13.9 | 15.6 | 15.8 | 16.2 | 17.0 | 16.8 | 5.2 |
Slovakia | 4.1 | 7.0 | 8.9 | 10.0 | 10.4 | 11.1 | 26.7 | 6.5 |
Finland | 24.4 | 27.1 | 31.3 | 33.0 | 33.2 | 32.7 | 21.6 | -1.5 |
Sweden | 29.0 | 31.6 | 37.3 | 35.7 | 36.5 | 36.6 | 31.1 | 0.3 |
United Kingdom | 21.6 | 23.7 | 25.0 | 29.7 | 26.8 | 25.7 | 17.1 | -4.1 |
Iceland | 23.9 | 21.9 | 23.2 | 30.2 | 36.0 | 42.6 | 19.7 | 18.4 |
Norway | : | : | 56.4 | 51.2 | 50.1 | 51.0 | 18.0 | 1.7 |
