Hourly labour costs in Bulgaria rose by 13.9% in 2024, still lowest in EU
Hourly labour costs in Bulgaria in 2024 remained the lowest in the European Union, though they had increased by 13.9 per cent compared with 2023, according to figures published on March 28 by the bloc’s statistics agency Eurostat.
In 2024, the average hourly labour costs in the whole economy were estimated to be 33.5 euro in the EU and 37.3 euro in the euro area, up compared with 31.9 euro and 35.7 euro, respectively, in 2023.
The average hourly labour costs show significant gaps between EU countries, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria (10.6 euro), Romania (12.5 euro) and Hungary (14.1 euro) while the highest in Luxembourg (55.2 euro), Denmark (50.1 euro) and Belgium (48.2 euro).
Average hourly labour costs in industry were 33.9 euro in the EU and 39.8 euro in the euro area. In construction, they were 30 euro and 33.4 euro, respectively. In services, hourly labour costs varied between 33.3 euro in the EU and 36.4 euro in the euro area. In the mainly non-business economy (excluding public administration) they were 34.2 euro and 37.5 euro, respectively.
The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs (fo example, employers’ social contributions). The share of non-wage costs in total labour costs for the whole economy was 24.7 per cent in the EU and 25.5 per cent in the euro area. The lowest shares of non-wage costs in the EU were recorded in Romania (4.8 per cent), Lithuania (5.4 per cent) and Malta (5.8 per cent) and the highest in France (32.2 per cent) and Sweden (31.6 per cent).
In 2024, compared with 2023, hourly labour costs at whole economy level expressed in euro rose by five per cent in the EU and by 4.5 per cent in the euro area.
Within the euro area, hourly labour costs increased in all countries. The largest increases were recorded in Croatia (+14.2 per cent), Latvia (+12.1 per cent) and Lithuania (+10.8 per cent) and the lowest in Czechia (+1.3 per cent) followed by Finland (+1.8 per cent) and Luxembourg (+2.1 per cent).
For EU countries outside the euro area, the hourly labour costs expressed in national currency increased in 2024 in all countries, with the largest increases recorded in Romania (+14.2 per cent), Bulgaria (+13.9 per cent), Hungary (+13.6 per cent) and Poland (+12.8 per cent). They increased the least in Sweden (+3.6 per cent), Eurostat said.
(Photo: Michael Maechtlinger/ freeimages.com)
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