The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs.
In the euro area, in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with the same quarter of the previous year the costs of hourly wages & salaries increased by 3.1%, while the non-wage component increased by 4.2%.
In the EU, in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the costs of hourly wages & salaries increased by 3.8% and the non-wage component increased by 4.6%.
In the same period compared with that of the previous year, the highest increases in hourly wage costs for the whole economy were recorded in Romania (+16.9%), Hungary (+16.3%), Croatia (+16.0%), Poland (+13.1%) and Slovenia (+12.5%).
Four more EU Member States recorded an increase above 10%, namely: Bulgaria (+11.9%), Lithuania (+11.2%), Latvia (+11.1%) and Estonia (+10.9%).
