What country boasts the highest hourly labour costs in the European Union?

Luxembourg boasts the highest hourly labour costs – in other words, the total expenditure borne by employers to employ staff – in the European Union, of €55.2, new data from Eurostat has found.

Other EU countries to boast a high hourly labour cost include Denmark (€50.1), Belgium (€48.2), the Netherlands (€45.2), Austria (€44.5), France (€43.7) and Germany (€43.4).

At the other end of the scale, hourly labour costs are lowest in Bulgaria (€10.6), Romania (€12.5), Hungary (€14.1) and Latvia (€15.1), the data showed.

Across the EU, the average hourly labour cost stood at €33.5, and €37.3 in the euro area, in 2024, compared to €31.9 and €35.7, respectively, in 2023.

Hourly labour costs across the EU

In industry, hourly labour costs stood at €33.9 in the EU and €39.8 in the euro area in 2024, while in construction, they stood at €30.0 and €33.4, respectively. In services, hourly labour costs were €33.3 in the EU and €36.4 in the euro area, while in the non-business economy (excluding public administration) they were €34.2 and €37.5, respectively, Eurostat noted.

The largest increases in hourly labour costs within the euro area were seen in Croatia (+14.2%), Latvia (+12.1%) and Lithuania (+10.8%), while among EU countries outside the euro area, the biggest gains were reported in Romania (+14.2%), Bulgaria (+13.9%), Hungary (+13.6%) and Poland (+12.8%).

The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs (e.g. employers’ social contributions). Hourly labour costs also include vocational training costs or other expenditures such as recruitment costs, spending on work clothes, etc. Read more here.

Hourly Labour Costs by EU Member State (2024) (€)

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