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- EU labour costs higher than in USA and Japan
(01.11.1999) In the European Union average hourly labour costs in industry in 1996 ranged from 6.1 ECU in Portugal to 26.5 ECU in Germany. Both the USA (17.4) and Japan (19.7) fell below EU-15 average of 20.2 ECU.
Labour costs accounted on average for some two-thirds of production costs of goods and services.
The Eurostat report says labour costs in Belgium, Austria and Sweden were close to Germany's at the top end of the range, with Finland and Luxembourg closest to the EU average. Costs in Ireland were more in line with southern countries - above Portugal and Greece but below Italy and Spain.
Denmark, Sweden and Finland had the most even distribution among the various industrial sectors.
| Hourly labour costs in ECU |
of which direct costs (%) |
of which direct remune- ration (%) |
of which indirect costs (%) |
of which social security (%) |
|
| EU-15 | 20.2 | 73.7 | n/a | 26.3 | 23.6 |
| Euro-zone | 21.6 | 71.2 | 63.4 | 28.8 | 26.1 |
| Austria | 24.6 | 70.4 | 61.3 | 29.6 | 25.3 |
| Belgium | 25.8 | 67.4 | 55.5 | 32.6 | 30.8 |
| Denmark | 23.0 | 92.0 | n/a | 8.1 | 0.1 |
| Finland | 19.7 | 75.1 | 63.8 | 24.9 | 22.7 |
| France | 22.5 | 66.9 | 57.2 | 33.1 | 29.2 |
| Germany | 26.5 | 74.4 | 62.7 | 25.6 | 23.6 |
| Greece | 9.6 | 76.0 | 69.9 | 24.0 | 22.9 |
| Ireland | 13.8 | 83.5 | 73.2 | 16.5 | 13.6 |
| Italy (1997) | 17.2 | 66.0 | 65.5 | 34.0 | 31.0 |
| Luxembourg | 19.3 | 84.0 | 71.8 | 16.0 | 14.8 |
| Netherlands | 22.6 | 74.9 | 64.7 | 25.1 | 22.8 |
| Portugal | 6.1 | 75.3 | 69.1 | 24.8 | 20.8 |
| Spain | 14.9 | 73.6 | 73.5 | 26.4 | 25.0 |
| Sweden (1997) | 23.9 | 67.7 | 60.7 | 332.3 | 29.7 |
| UK | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Source: Eurostat Statistics in Focus, Population and social conditions, no 10/99: "Labour costs 1996: Major disparities between the European Union countries