What EU country saw the highest annual increase in hourly wage costs in Q2 2025?

Bulgaria reported the highest annual increase in hourly wage costs in the European Union in the second quarter of 2025, with wages up 13.4%, new data has shown.

According to the Eurostat data, hourly wage costs were also up by double digits in Hungary (+11.0%), Romania (+10.4%), Estonia (+10.3%) and Greece (+10.1%) in the second quarter, compared to the corresponding period a year ago.

The lowest increase in hourly wage costs, on an annual basis, was reported in France (+1.4%), Denmark (+1.5%) and Malta (+1.9%), meanwhile.

Across the EU as a whole, hourly wage costs rose by 4.0% in the second quarter, compared to Q2 of last year, while in the euro area, wage costs were up 3.6%.

The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs – in the EU, the cost of wages and salaries was up 4.1%, while the non-wage component increased by 3.8%. In the euro area, these values were up 3.7% and 3.4%, respectively.

Sector by sector

At EU level, labour costs increased by 4.4% in the business economy and 3.1% in the (mainly) non-business economy. Industry saw hourly labour costs rise by 3.9%, construction by 4.8%, and services by 4.6%.

In the euro area, meanwhile, hourly labour costs were up 4.0% in the business economy and 2.7% in the (mainly) non-business economy, Eurostat‘s data showed. Read more here.

Hourly Wage Cost Increases by EU Member State – Q2 2025 (%)