April 3, 2023

In 2022, the average hourly labour costs in the whole economy (see methodological note) were estimated to be €30.5 in the EU and €34.3 in the euro area, up compared with €29.0 and €32.8, respectively, in 2021.

Lowest in Bulgaria, highest in Luxembourg

The average hourly labour costs mask significant gaps between EU countries, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria (€8.2) and Romania (€9.5), and the highest in Luxembourg (€50.7), Denmark (€46.8) and Belgium (€43.5).

Hourly labour costs in industry were €30.7 in the EU and €36.6 in the euro area. In construction, they were €27.3 and €30.8, respectively. In services, hourly labour costs were €30.2 in the EU and €33.3 in the euro area. In the mainly non-business economy (excluding public administration), they were €31.3 and €34.8 respectively.

The two main components of labour costs are 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 24.8% in the EU and 25.5% in the euro area. The lowest shares of non-wage costs were recorded in Lithuania (5.4%) and Romania (5.3%) and the highest in France (32.0%), Sweden (31.9%) and Italy (27.8%).

Hourly labour costs increased most in Bulgaria

In 2022, compared with 2021, hourly labour costs at whole economy level expressed in € rose by 5.0% in the EU and by 4.7% in the euro area.

Within the euro area, hourly labour costs increased in all Member States. The largest increases were recorded in Lithuania (+13.3%), Ireland (+9.3%) and Estonia (+9.1%).

For EU countries outside the euro area, the hourly labour costs expressed in national currency increased in 2022 in all countries, with the largest increases recorded in Bulgaria (+15.3%), Hungary (+13.9%), Romania (+12.2%) and Poland (+11.7%). They increased the least in Denmark (+2.3%).

In 2022, most EU countries phased out the support schemes introduced in 2020 and extended in 2021 to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on enterprises and employees. They mainly consisted of short-term work arrangements and temporary layoffs fully or partly compensated by government. Those schemes were generally recorded as subsidies (or tax allowances) with a negative sign in the non-wage component of labour costs. Therefore, the phasing out of COVID-related support schemes make a positive contribution to the growth in hourly labour costs

Source: Eurostat
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