site.btaBulgaria Has Lowest Labour Costs Among EU Countries in 2024

In 2024, the average hourly labour costs show significant gaps between EU countries, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria (EUR 10.6), show Eurostat data published on Friday. 

In 2024, the average hourly labour costs in the whole economy were estimated to be EUR 33.5 in the EU and EUR 37.3 in the euro area, up compared with EUR 31.9 and EUR 35.7, respectively, in 2023.   

After Bulgaria, the lowest hourly labor costs are in Romania (EUR 12.5) and Hungary (EUR 14.1), while the highest are in Luxembourg (EUR 55.2), Denmark (EUR 50.1), and Belgium (EUR 48.2).

Average hourly labour costs in industry were EUR 33.9 in the EU and EUR 39.8 in the euro area. In construction, they were EUR 30.0 and EUR 33.4, respectively. In services, hourly labour costs varied between EUR 33.3 in the EU and EUR 36.4 in the euro area. In the mainly non-business economy (excluding public administration) they were EUR 34.2 and EUR 37.5, respectively.

The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs (employers’ social contributions). The share of non-wage costs in total labour costs for the whole economy was 24.7% in the EU and 25.5% in the euro area. The lowest shares of non-wage costs in the EU were recorded in Romania (4.8%), Lithuania (5.4%) and Malta (5.8%) and the highest in France (32.2%) and Sweden (31.6%).