Hourly Pay Differed Sharply Across EU In 2018, Lowest In Bulgaria, Romania - Eurostat

Hourly labor costs in the EU member states were characterized by a huge gap in 2018, with the residents of the richest country of the bloc, Denmark, receiving about 43 euro ($48) per hour, and the citizens of its poorest member, Bulgaria, getting only 5.4 euros hourly, a report released by Eurostat on Thursday showed

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th April, 2019) Hourly labor costs in the EU member states were characterized by a huge gap in 2018, with the residents of the richest country of the bloc, Denmark, receiving about 43 euro ($48) per hour, and the citizens of its poorest member, Bulgaria, getting only 5.4 Euros hourly, a report released by Eurostat on Thursday showed.

"In 2018, average hourly labour costs in the whole economy were estimated to be 27.4 in the European Union (EU) and 30.6 in the euro area. However, the average masks significant gaps between EU Member States, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria (5.

4), Romania (6.9), Lithuania (9.0), Hungary (9.2) and Latvia (9.3), and the highest in Denmark (43.5), Luxembourg (40.6), Belgium (39.7), Sweden (36.6), the Netherlands (35.9) and France (35.8)," the report stated.

The Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania experienced greatest increases in hourly labor costs last year, while citizens of Hungary and Romania saw reduced hourly wages.

According to Eurostat, labor costs are made up of wages and salaries, and non-wage costs such as employers' social contributions.