Topic Highlights: Comparing labour costs in the EU Member States
The average labour costs in the industry and services sector (NACE C to K only) vary considerably from one EU country to the next. The lowest labour costs for enterprises with 10 or more employees are found in Bulgaria (1.55 per hour in 2005), whereas Belgium (2005: 30.73 ), Denmark (2004: 30.70 ) and Sweden (2003: 30.43 ) are at the top end of the scale. Germanys labour costs for these sectors are 26.43 per hour, which is significantly above the EU-25 average of 21.18 .
A few weeks ago Eurostat published the first labour cost figures for 2005 in the Eurostat online database. The following customized data tables offer an overview of the latest statistical data for all EU Member States.
Methodological background
Please note the following methodological information: The labour cost data published by Eurostat relates to enterprises with 10 or more employees only. The labour costs for apprentices are not included in the Eurostat data unless otherwise stated. For more information on the methodology for these statistics please consult the Eurostat metadata on labour costs.
Eurostat Data
Labour costs per hour data from the quadrennial labour cost survey: Data for various
economic sectors for the years 1996, 2000 and 2004.
Download table
Labour costs per hour annual data for the years 1995 to 2005: These time
series are based on the data from the quadrennial surveys but offer estimated
data on an annual basis. This data is also broken down by economic sector.
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Labour cost index (base year 2000) quarterly data for 2006:
Index values for the first three quarters of 2006 broken down by selected economic sectors.
Download table
Eurostat database labour costs: Here you can access the labour cost section of the Eurostat
database.
Eurostat online
database: Labour costs
Bar chart Labour costs 2004: This bar chart presents the labour
costs for each of the EU Member States for the NACE economic sectors C to K according to the 2004 labour cost survey.
Access
the bar chart
Federal Statistical Office: Information on German labour costs
Labour costs in Germany: Here you can access tables, press releases and
methodological information on German labour cost statistics.
Link to the labour
costs,
wages and salaries section of the Destatis website
