In 2015, average hourly labour costs in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration) were estimated to be €25.0 in the European Union (EU) and €29.5 in the euro area. However, this average masks significant gaps between EU Member States, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria (€4.1), Romania (€5.0), Lithuania (€6.8), Latvia (€7.1) and Hungary (€7.5), and the highest in Denmark (€41.3), Belgium (€39.1), Sweden (€37.4), Luxembourg (€36.2) and France (€35.1).
In industry, labour costs per hour were €25.9 in the EU and €32.3 in the euro area, in services €24.9 and €28.6 respectively and in construction €22.4 and €25.8. In the mainly non-business economy (excluding public administration), labour costs per hour were €25.1 in the EU and €29.4 in the euro area in 2015.
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 24.0% in the EU and 26.0% in the euro area, ranging from 6.6% in Malta to 33.2% in France.
A full EUROSTAT press release is available online.
