(15 December 2014) – In 2012, average hourly labour costs stood at €24.2 in the EU28 and €29.3 in the euro area (EA18). However, this average masks significant differences between EU Member States.
Compared with 2008, hourly labour costs in euros in 2012 had increased by 10.9% in the EU28 (or +2.6% annually) and by 11.8% in the euro area (or +2.8% annually).
In both the EU28 and the euro area, hourly labour costs in 2012 were lowest in the “accommodation and food service activities” sector (€14.4 in the EU28 and €16.9 in the euro area) and highest in the “financial and insurance activities” sector (€41.2 in the EU28, €48.5 in the euro area).
The highest average hourly labour costs in the whole economy were recorded in Denmark (€40.1), Belgium (€38.0), Sweden(€37.3), France (€34.6) and Luxembourg (€34.1), and the lowest in Bulgaria (€3.4), Romania(€4.1), Lithuania(€5.9) and Latvia(€6.0).
In 2012, full-time employees worked on average 1 750 hours per year in the EU28 and 1 661 hours in the euro area. The average number of annual hours worked ranged from less than 1 600 hours in Belgium (1 462), France (1 555), Italy (1 565) and Denmark (1 571), to more than 1 800 hours in Romania (1 850) and Malta (1 961).