site.btaBulgaria Had Lowest Hourly Labour Costs in EU in 2015

Bulgaria Had Lowest Hourly Labour Costs in EU in 2015

Brussels, April 1 (BTA) - In 2015, average hourly labour costs in the EU ranged widely from 4.1 euro in Bulgaria to 41.3 euro in Denmark, the Statistical Office of the European Union reported on Friday.

EU-wide, average hourly labour costs in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration) were estimated to be 25.0 euro, and in the euro area they were 29.5 euro. This average masks significant gaps between EU member states, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria (4.1 euro), Romania (5.0 euro), Lithuania (6.8 euro), Latvia (7.1 euro) and Hungary (7.5 euro), and the highest in Denmark (41.3 euro), Belgium (39.1 euro), Sweden (37.4 euro), Luxembourg (36.2 euro) and France (35.1 euro).

In Bulgaria, labour costs per hour were highest in the services sector, at 4.3 euro, followed by the business economy (4.1 euro), industry (3.9 euro) and construction (3.4 euro).

Between 2014 and 2015, hourly labour costs in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration), expressed in euro, rose by 2.0 per cent in the EU and by
1.5 per cent in the euro area. In Bulgaria, they rose by 6.8 per cent (expressed in the national currency, they increased by 7.0 per cent, the second largest increase after Romania).