56/2015 - 30 March 2015

Labour costs in the EU

Hourly labour costs ranged from €3.8 to €40.3
across the EU Member States in 2014
Lowest in Bulgaria, highest in Denmark
1

2

In 2014, average hourly labour costs in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration) were
3
3
estimated to be €24.6 in the European Union (EU) and €29.2 in the euro area (EA18). However, this average
masks significant gaps between EU Member States, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria
(€3.8), Romania (€4.6), Lithuania (€6.5) and Latvia (€6.6) and the highest in Denmark (€40.3), Belgium (€39.1),
Sweden (€37.4) and Luxembourg (€35.9).
Within the business economy, labour costs per hour were highest in industry (€25.5 in the EU and €32.0 in the
euro area), followed by services (€24.3 and €28.2 respectively) and construction (€22.0 and €25.8). In the mainly
non-business economy (excluding public administration), labour costs per hour were €24.7 in the EU and €29.1 in
the euro area in 2014.
Labour costs are made up of wages & salaries and non-wage costs such as employers' social contributions. The
share of non-wage costs in the whole economy was 24.4% in the EU and 26.1% in the euro area, with the lowest
in Malta (6.9%) and Denmark (13.1%) and the highest in Sweden (31.6%) and France (33.1%).

4

These estimates for 2014 come from a publication issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European
Union. Data cover enterprises with 10 or more employees and are based on the 2012 Labour Cost Survey and the
5
Labour Cost Index .

Hourly labour costs for the whole economy in €, 2014
Enterprises with 10 or more employees
45

Wages & salaries

Other costs

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5

Bulgaria

Romania

Lithuania

Latvia

Hungary

Poland

Croatia

Czech Republic

Slovakia

Estonia

Malta

Portugal

Greece

Slovenia

Cyprus

Spain

United Kingdom

EU

EA

Italy

Ireland

Germany

Austria

Finland

Netherlands

France

Luxembourg

Sweden

Belgium

Denmark

0

Decreases in hourly labour costs in Cyprus, Portugal, Croatia and Ireland
Between 2013 and 2014, hourly labour costs in the whole economy expressed in euro rose by 1.4% in the EU and
by 1.1% in the euro area.
Within the euro area, the largest increases were recorded in Estonia (+6.6%), Latvia (+6.0%) and Slovakia
(+5.2%). Decreases were observed in Cyprus (-2.8%), Portugal (-0.8%) and Ireland (-0.2%).
For Member States outside the euro area in 2014, and expressed in national currency, the largest increases in
hourly labour costs in the whole economy between 2013 and 2014 were registered in Romania (+6.0%), Lithuania
and Poland (both +3.5%) and Hungary (+3.3%), and the smallest in Denmark (+0.9%) and the United Kingdom
(+1.3%). A decrease was recorded in Croatia (-0.8%). When comparing labour cost estimates over time, it should
5
be noted that data for those Member States outside the euro area are influenced by exchange rate movements if
analysed in euro.
1. Total Labour Costs cover wage and non-wage costs less subsidies. They do not include vocational training costs or other expenditures such
as recruitment costs, spending on working clothes, etc.
Wage and salary costs include direct remunerations, bonuses, and allowances paid by an employer in cash or in kind to an employee in
return for work done, payments to employees saving schemes, payments for days not worked and remunerations in kind such as food,
drink, fuel, company cars, etc.
Non-wage costs include the employers’ social contributions plus employment taxes regarded as labour costs less subsidies intended to
refund part or all of the employer’s cost of direct remuneration.

2. The whole economy (except agriculture and public administration) includes NACE Rev. 2 sections B to N and P to S, and can be subdivided
into the following economic activities:
 The business economy includes NACE Rev. 2 sections B to N; for the EU and euro area this accounts for about 76% of the labour costs
of the whole economy. It can further be broken down into:
- Industry includes: Mining and quarrying; Manufacturing; Electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning supply; and Water supply,
sewerage, waste management & remediation activities. Industry accounts for around 22% of the whole economy.
- Construction accounts for around 6% of the whole economy.
- Services include: Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles & motorcycles; Transportation & storage; Accommodation &
food service activities; Information & communication; Financial & insurance activities; Real estate activities; Professional, scientific &
technical activities; Administrative & support service activities. Services account for around 48% of the whole economy.
 The mainly non-business economy (except public administration) includes NACE Rev. 2 sections P to S; for the EU and euro area this
accounts for about 24% of the labour costs of the whole economy. It includes Education; Human health & social work activities; Arts,
entertainment & recreation; and Other service activities.

3. The EU includes Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy,
Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland,
Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Up to 31 December 2014 the euro area (EA18) included Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia,
Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. From 1 January 2015 the euro area (EA19) also
includes Lithuania.
As part of Eurostat's guidelines for the dissemination of data when the euro area is enlarged, the aggregate data series commented on in
this News Release refer to the official composition in the most recent year for which data is available. Thus, this News Release with data for
2014 comments on EA18 series.

4. Eurostat, Statistics Explained article “Hourly labour costs” available on Eurostat's website:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Hourly_labour_costs
See also the Statistics Explained article “Labour cost index – recent trends”:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Labour_cost_index_-_recent_trends

5. Hourly labour cost data for the years 2004, 2008 and 2012 comes from the Labour Cost Survey. Contrary to Eurostat's news release
193/2014, apprentices are included in this news release which leads to some differences in some countries.
Estimates for years after 2012 are obtained by extrapolating the 2012 Labour Cost Survey hourly labour cost data expressed in national
currencies using the Labour Cost Index (LCI) transmitted by the Member States. In order to calculate monetary estimates in euros and to
derive European aggregates, exchange rate movements have to be incorporated. For this purpose, an exchange-rate adjusted LCI index is
calculated for non-euro area countries.
The LCI not adjusted for calendar effects is used except for Denmark, France and Sweden where only calendar-adjusted data are available.
Discrepancies between the growth rates derived from the 2013 and 2014 values and the growth rates reported in the table are due to
rounding.

6. For France, the aggregate shown for the whole economy for 2008 also excludes NACE Rev. 2 section P (Education). For Denmark and
Spain the year 2013 is taken from national sources.

Issued by: Eurostat Press Office

Production of data:

Vincent BOURGEAIS
Tel: +352-4301-33 444
eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu

Boyan GENEV
Tel: +352-4301-36 409

ec.europa.eu/eurostat
@EU_Eurostat

Cristina LOPEZ VILAPLANA
Tel: +352-4301-35 724
estat-labour-cost-indices@ec.europa.eu

Media requests: Eurostat media support / Tel: +352-4301-33 408 / eurostat-mediasupport@ec.europa.eu

Labour costs per hour in euro, whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration)
2004

2008

2012

2013

Non-wage
costs
Change
(% of total), 2014/2013, %
2014

2014

EA18

23.3

25.5

28.5

28.9

29.2

26.1%

1.1%

EA19

23.0

25.3

28.3

28.7

29.0

26.1%

1.1%

EU

19.8

21.5

23.9

24.2

24.6

24.4%

1.4%

Belgium

29.2

32.9

38.0

38.8

39.1

27.8%

0.8%

Bulgaria

1.6

2.6

3.4

3.7

3.8

16.0%

2.7%

Czech Republic
Denmark

6

Germany

5.8

9.2

10.0

9.8

9.4

27.1%

-3.8%

29.6

34.6

39.4

39.9

40.3

13.1%

0.9%

26.8

27.9

30.5

31.0

31.4

22.3%

1.5%

Estonia

4.3

7.9

8.6

9.2

9.8

26.3%

6.6%

Ireland

25.5

28.9

29.8

29.8

29.8

13.5%

-0.2%

Greece

15.3

16.8

15.7

14.6

14.6

21.2%

0.3%

16.5

19.4

21.1

21.2

21.3

26.0%

0.4%

28.2

31.2

34.3

34.3

34.6

33.1%

0.7%

6.9

9.2

9.5

9.6

9.4

14.9%

-1.6%

Italy

22.4

25.2

27.7

28.1

28.3

28.2%

0.7%

Cyprus

12.6

16.7

16.8

16.3

15.8

17.1%

-2.8%

Latvia

2.9

6.0

5.9

6.2

6.6

20.2%

6.0%

Lithuania

3.2

5.9

5.9

6.3

6.5

28.0%

3.5%

Spain

6

France

6

Croatia

Luxembourg

30.3

31.0

33.9

35.0

35.9

13.6%

2.5%

Hungary

5.9

7.8

7.4

7.4

7.3

23.2%

-0.5%

Malta

9.6

11.4

11.8

12.1

12.3

6.9%

1.9%

Netherlands

27.3

29.8

32.5

33.5

34.0

25.1%

1.6%

Austria

25.2

26.4

29.7

30.5

31.5

26.2%

3.2%

Poland
Portugal

4.8

7.6

7.9

8.1

8.4

18.7%

3.8%

11.3

12.2

13.3

13.2

13.1

20.6%

-0.8%

Romania

1.9

4.2

4.1

4.4

4.6

22.9%

5.5%

Slovenia

11.2

13.9

15.6

15.3

15.6

15.7%

1.8%

Slovakia

4.1

7.3

8.9

9.2

9.7

26.5%

5.2%

Finland

24.4

27.1

31.3

31.9

32.3

22.2%

1.3%

Sweden

29.0

31.6

37.3

38.2

37.4

31.6%

-2.2%

United Kingdom

21.5

20.9

21.7

20.9

22.3

16.5%

6.7%

Norway

30.1

37.8

56.4

56.3

54.0

18.1%

-4.2%

Labour costs per hour in national currency for non-euro area countries in 2014
whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration)
2004
Bulgaria
Czech Republic

2008

2012

2013

Change
2014/2013, %

2014

BGN

3.1

5.0

6.7

7.3

7.5

2.6%

CZK

183.6

228.3

251.0

253.8

259.0

2.0%

DKK

220.0

257.7

293.0

297.7

300.3

0.9%

Croatia

HRK

51.8

66.2

71.3

72.3

71.7

-0.8%

Lithuania

LTL

10.9

20.3

20.3

21.6

22.3

3.5%

Hungary

HUF

1478.7

1971.0

2133.3

2188.8

2261.4

3.3%

Poland

PLN

21.5

26.8

32.9

33.9

35.1

3.5%

Romania

RON

7.7

15.5

18.5

19.4

20.6

6.0%

Sweden

SEK

264.7

304.2

324.3

330.8

340.1

2.8%

United Kingdom

GBP

14.6

16.7

17.6

17.8

18.0

1.3%

Norway

NOK

252.2

311.0

421.5

439.7

450.8

2.5%

Denmark

6

Labour costs per hour in euro, breakdown by economic activity, 2014
Business
economy

Industry

Construction

Mainly nonbusiness (excl.
public admin.)

Services

EA18

29.2

32.0

25.8

28.2

29.1

EA19

29.0

31.8

25.6

28.0

28.9

EU

24.5

25.5

22.0

24.3

24.7

Belgium

41.1

44.1

34.4

40.6

34.1

Bulgaria

3.8

3.7

3.2

4.0

3.8

Czech Republic

9.6

9.6

8.7

9.8

8.6

42.0

42.1

36.5

42.6

37.1

Germany

31.8

37.1

25.5

29.0

30.2

Estonia

10.2

9.8

11.5

10.4

8.6

Ireland

28.4

32.1

26.7

27.2

33.8

Greece

Denmark

6

14.4

15.6

12.7

14.2

15.1

6

21.0

23.5

20.8

20.2

22.2

France

35.2

37.0

30.4

35.1

32.7

Croatia

9.4

8.5

8.3

10.0

9.6

Italy

27.4

28.0

24.7

27.2

32.3

Cyprus

15.7

14.8

14.4

16.1

17.7

Latvia

6.6

6.2

6.5

6.9

6.5

Spain

Lithuania
Luxembourg
Hungary

6.6

6.3

6.5

6.8

6.1

35.7

32.0

24.8

38.6

37.4

7.8

7.7

6.4

8.0

5.9

Malta

11.8

11.8

9.6

12.1

14.0

Netherlands

33.5

c

c

c

c

Austria

31.7

34.9

30.5

30.3

30.6

Poland

8.2

8.4

7.2

8.1

9.0

Portugal

12.6

10.7

11.5

14.0

14.4

Romania

4.8

4.7

3.4

5.1

4.1

Slovenia

15.5

15.8

11.6

16.1

15.7

Slovakia

10.0

10.1

8.2

10.2

8.7

Finland

32.9

35.9

33.7

31.4

31.0

Sweden

40.2

41.8

38.4

39.7

32.8

United Kingdom

22.2

22.6

22.3

22.1

22.5

Norway

54.6

63.8

46.9

51.7

51.1

c confidential

Labour costs per hour in national currency for non-euro area countries in 2014,
breakdown by economic activity, 2014

Bulgaria

BGN

7.5

7.1

6.2

7.9

Mainly nonbusiness (excl.
public admin.)
7.5

Czech Republic

CZK

264.1

263.3

239.1

269.4

237.6

DKK

313.3

314.1

271.7

317.9

276.7

HRK

71.4

65.1

63.6

76.5

73.2

Business
economy

Denmark

6

Croatia

Industry

Construction

Services

Lithuania

LTL

22.7

21.8

22.5

23.3

21.2

Hungary

HUF

2416.5

2384.5

1985.1

2483.6

1821.1

Poland

PLN

34.2

35.2

30.3

34.1

37.8

Romania

RON

21.1

21.0

15.1

22.6

18.1

Sweden

SEK

365.8

380.7

349.3

361.2

298.7

United Kingdom

GBP

17.9

18.2

18.0

17.8

18.1

Norway

NOK

456.2

532.9

391.8

431.7

427.0