Employees in Bulgaria have lowest compensation per hour in the EU – Eurostat
Compensation of employees in Bulgaria per hour is the lowest in the European Union, coming in at the equivalent of 5.1 euro in 2017, against an EU average of 23.1 euro, statistics agency Eurostat said on March 22.
However, over the 10 years from 2007 to 2017, Bulgaria had the highest increase in compensation per hour in the EU: 122 per cent. Though all that means is that the figure increased from 2.3 euro an hour.
Across the EU member states, the compensation of employees per hour worked in 2017 was highest in Luxembourg (43.8 euro in 2016), followed by Denmark (38.7 euro) and Belgium (37.9 euro in 2016). It also was above 30 euro in France (33 euro), the Netherlands (33.7 euro in 2016) and Germany (32.3 euro).
In contrast, the compensation of employees was below 10 euro an hour worked in Bulgaria (5.1 euro), Romania (5.5 euro), Poland (6.3 euro in 2016), Hungary (7.6 euro), Lithuania (8.4 euro), Croatia (8.5 euro in 2016) and Latvia (8.6 euro), Eurostat said.
In 2017, the compensation of employee received by hour worked in 2017 was on average 23.1 euro in the EU and 26.9 euro in the euro area. This compares with 19.5 euro and 21.8 euro, respectively, 10 years before, in 2007.
Compared with 2007, the compensation of employees per hour worked was higher in 2017 in all EU countries, except in Greece where it fell by seven per cent (from 12.1 euro to 11.2 euro) and the United Kingdom (from 27.3 euro to 25.5 euro, or a drop of seven per cent).
The largest relative increase over this 10-year period was recorded in Bulgaria (from 2.3 euro to 5.1 euro, or +122 per cent), ahead of Estonia (+67 per cent), Slovakia and Lithuania (both 62 per cent).
The average compensation of employee received by hour worked is calculated by dividing national accounts data on compensation of employees for the total economy, which include wages and salaries as well as employers’ social contributions, by the total number of hours worked by all employees, Eurostat said.
