STAT/04/151
15 December 2004
Third quarter 2004 compared to third quarter 2003
Euro-zone labour costs up by 2.0%
EU25 up by 2.4%
Total hourly labour costs1 in the whole economy2 of the euro-zone3 grew by 2.0% in nominal terms in the third quarter of 2004 compared to the third quarter of 2003, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, reports today. In the second quarter of 2004 the increase was 2.2%4. In the EU255 the annual rise was 2.4% in the third quarter of 2004, compared to 2.8% in the previous quarter.
Among the Member States for which data are available in the third quarter of 2004, the smallest annual rises were recorded in Germany (0.9%), Italy (1.1%), Luxembourg (1.2%), Poland (1.3%) and Austria (1.6%). The highest increases were observed in Latvia (11.1%), the Czech Republic (10.4%), Slovenia (9.4%), Estonia (8.6%) and Hungary (8.3%).
In industry, hourly labour costs rose by 1.8% in the euro-zone and by 2.3% in the EU25. Among the Member States for which data are available, annual changes ranged between +0.1% in Portugal and +12.1% in the Czech Republic.
Total nominal hourly labour costs, whole economy
% change compared to same quarter of the previous year - not seasonally adjusted
Euro-zone / 4.0 / 3.6 / 4.0 / 3.7 / 3.5 / 3.7 / 2.9 / 3.3 / 2.8 / 2.3 / 2.8 / 2.2 / 2.0
EU25 / 4.1 / 3.7 / 3.8 / 4.0 / 3.7 / 3.7 / 3.1 / 3.3 / 3.2 / 2.8 / 3.8 / 2.8 / 2.4
EU15 / 4.0 / 3.4 / 3.5 / 3.7 / 3.5 / 3.6 / 3.0 / 3.3 / 3.1 / 2.7 / 3.7 / 2.6 / 2.3
BE / 6.2 / 7.0 / 3.8 / 5.4 / 2.4 / 2.0 / : / : / : / : / : / : / :
CZ / 12.1 / 15.6 / 9.1 / 8.3 / 6.0 / 6.5 / 7.0 / 5.5 / 4.8 / 6.1 / 6.9 / 3.9 / 10.4
DK / 4.6 / 4.7 / 4.1 / 4.3 / 3.5 / 3.4 / 3.5 / 2.9 / 4.1 / 3.6 / 3.4 / 3.8 / 2.8
DE / 2.4 / 2.4 / 3.4 / 2.5 / 3.2 / 3.1 / 2.6 / 3.6 / 2.4 / 1.2 / 1.8 / 1.3 / 0.9
EE / 13.1 / 10.0 / 18.0 / 10.8 / 10.2 / 12.4 / 10.1 / 11.3 / 10.7 / 10.0 / 5.1 / 5.8 / 8.6
ES / 5.3 / 6.4 / 6.3 / 5.1 / 4.7 / 5.0 / 5.6 / 6.0 / 3.8 / 4.0 / 4.8 / 3.4 / :
FR / 3.9 / 2.8 / 2.7 / 3.6 / 3.2 / 3.8 / 2.8 / 2.5 / 2.7 / 2.6 / 2.9 / 2.7 / 2.7
IE / 10.1 / 8.5 / 7.4 / 6.4 / 5.6 / 7.4 / : / : / : / : / : / : / :
IT / 5.2 / 3.4 / 4.9 / 4.0 / 2.2 / 3.5 / 0.6 / 2.0 / 3.3 / 2.3 / 4.1 / 2.5 / 1.1
LV / 9.5 / 8.4 / 6.3 / 9.2 / 6.8 / 8.5 / 8.5 / 9.9 / 9.5 / 10.3 / 11.1 / 10.5 / 11.1
LT / 1.2 / 0.8 / 6.4 / 5.2 / 1.5 / 4.1 / 2.2 / 4.6 / 4.4 / 4.2 / 1.5 / 4.4 / 5.7
LU / 3.4 / 5.0 / 4.1 / 1.1 / 3.5 / 1.7 / 3.0 / 2.7 / 3.1 / 4.0 / 2.5 / 3.2 / 1.2
HU / 15.1 / 13.2 / 15.5 / 14.4 / 12.4 / 12.5 / 6.2 / 6.3 / 6.2 / 5.1 / 10.1 / 7.7 / 8.3
NL / 5.8 / 5.4 / 7.1 / 6.8 / 6.3 / 5.7 / 4.6 / 3.5 / 3.6 / 3.1 / 2.8 / 2.1 / 2.5
AT / 2.6 / 1.9 / 3.0 / 3.3 / 3.5 / 2.0 / 3.8 / 2.3 / 0.0 / 0.5 / 0.9 / 0.3 / 1.6
PL / 5.5 / 6.5 / 8.6 / 11.6 / 9.5 / 3.9 / 5.7 / 0.0 / 3.4 / 5.4 / 3.3 / 5.3 / 1.3
PT / 6.7 / 9.0 / 3.3 / 6.3 / 5.7 / 5.9 / 3.2 / 2.4 / 2.2 / 2.2 / 2.8 / 4.3 / 3.6
SI / 12.8 / 9.8 / 2.1 / 8.5 / 0.3 / 4.5 / 8.6 / 6.6 / 10.1 / 8.3 / 9.5 / 7.5 / 9.4
SK / 5.2 / 10.5 / 16.4 / 16.1 / 16.6 / 15.6 / 12.4 / 9.5 / 10.3 / 8.9 / 7.9 / 3.9 / 4.3
FI / 5.6 / 5.2 / 3.8 / 4.3 / 4.4 / 4.4 / 4.0 / 4.1 / 3.9 / 4.0 / 4.4 / 3.8 / 3.7
SE / 5.2 / 5.1 / 3.5 / 3.1 / 3.9 / 3.3 / 4.6 / 4.5 / 4.4 / 4.4 / 3.0 / 2.5 / 2.7
UK / 3.6 / 2.4 / 1.9 / 3.5 / 3.6 / 3.2 / 3.0 / 3.0 / 3.8 / 3.8 / 6.7 / 4.2 / 3.4
Greece, Cyprus and Malta: not available
: Data not available
Total nominal hourly labour costs, industry
% change compared to the same quarter of the previous year - not seasonally adjusted
Euro-zone / 3.9 / 3.3 / 4.0 / 3.7 / 3.5 / 3.8 / 2.9 / 3.5 / 3.1 / 2.2 / 3.2 / 2.4 / 1.8
EU25 / 4.2 / 3.6 / 3.9 / 3.9 / 3.8 / 4.0 / 3.5 / 3.6 / 3.3 / 2.8 / 3.5 / 2.9 / 2.3
EU15 / 4.0 / 3.3 / 3.7 / 3.7 / 3.5 / 3.9 / 3.4 / 3.6 / 3.3 / 2.6 / 3.4 / 2.8 / 2.2
BE / 7.7 / 7.9 / 7.2 / 7.1 / 2.8 / 2.4 / : / : / : / : / : / : / :
CZ / 10.2 / 14.4 / 8.8 / 7.7 / 6.0 / 6.4 / 7.8 / 7.2 / 4.8 / 7.8 / 6.3 / 2.8 / 12.1
DK / 4.2 / 4.5 / 4.1 / 3.3 / 4.0 / 4.4 / 4.3 / 4.6 / 4.7 / 4.1 / 3.7 / 3.9 / 3.2
DE / 2.4 / 2.5 / 3.2 / 2.2 / 3.2 / 3.1 / 2.7 / 3.7 / 2.5 / 1.1 / 1.7 / 1.3 / 0.6
EE / 9.7 / 6.4 / 14.6 / 6.4 / 7.5 / 8.2 / 6.9 / 12.2 / 11.6 / 10.9 / 6.0 / 7.1 / 8.2
ES / 3.9 / 5.9 / 5.6 / 5.2 / 5.2 / 5.5 / 5.5 / 7.3 / 5.1 / 3.8 / 5.4 / 1.7 / :
FR / 4.2 / 3.5 / 3.6 / 4.6 / 4.2 / 4.2 / 2.7 / 2.1 / 2.4 / 2.4 / 3.2 / 3.2 / 2.9
IE / 9.5 / 8.6 / 6.0 / 5.5 / 4.6 / 7.2 / : / : / : / : / : / : / :
IT / 6.0 / 1.5 / 4.3 / 3.9 / 1.1 / 4.0 / 1.4 / 2.3 / 4.0 / 3.2 / 6.0 / 4.6 / 2.6
LV / 9.6 / 8.3 / 4.6 / 9.6 / 6.9 / 8.1 / 9.9 / 8.6 / 6.4 / 7.7 / 9.7 / 9.3 / 11.5
LT / 1.3 / 0.4 / 3.0 / 2.8 / -0.3 / 2.7 / 2.4 / 4.2 / 5.5 / 3.7 / 0.1 / 3.0 / 2.2
LU / 1.3 / 2.4 / 5.0 / 1.3 / 3.8 / 1.6 / 2.1 / 3.8 / 3.0 / 4.9 / 2.4 / 3.0 / 2.1
HU / 14.5 / 11.6 / 14.2 / 12.8 / 11.3 / 10.5 / 6.7 / 7.2 / 5.7 / 5.6 / 9.6 / 8.6 / 9.1
NL / 5.2 / 5.3 / 6.4 / 7.3 / 6.7 / 5.9 / 4.9 / 3.9 / 3.6 / 2.5 / 2.6 / 2.2 / :
AT / 2.6 / 1.6 / 3.4 / 3.1 / 3.2 / 1.9 / 4.0 / 2.5 / 0.3 / 0.7 / 0.5 / 0.3 / 1.2
PL / 6.7 / 10.2 / 9.6 / 12.2 / 13.6 / 4.1 / 4.1 / 3.2 / 2.2 / 5.8 / 3.5 / 5.3 / 1.9
PT / 5.7 / 9.5 / 3.4 / 6.4 / 6.9 / 5.8 / 3.1 / 2.6 / 3.4 / 2.2 / 2.6 / 3.1 / 0.1
SI / 12.1 / 10.2 / 1.0 / 8.4 / 1.5 / 6.5 / 7.8 / 5.2 / 12.3 / 4.3 / 10.4 / 9.2 / 8.6
SK / 3.8 / 10.7 / 16.4 / 14.7 / 15.7 / 14.8 / 13.5 / 11.0 / 8.1 / 6.0 / 5.3 / 1.9 / 6.1
FI / 6.7 / 6.3 / 3.5 / 4.2 / 4.5 / 4.5 / 3.9 / 4.2 / 4.0 / 3.9 / 4.4 / 3.7 / 3.5
SE / 5.2 / 4.6 / 3.8 / 3.4 / 3.0 / 3.9 / 4.8 / 4.8 / 4.6 / 4.5 / 2.7 / 2.3 / 2.9
UK / 4.1 / 2.8 / 2.6 / 3.4 / 3.7 / 4.1 / 4.8 / 3.8 / 3.9 / 3.9 / 4.4 / 4.4 / 3.5
Greece, Cyprus and Malta: not available
: Data not available
1. Labour cost indices show the short-term development of the total cost for employers of employing the labour force on an hourly basis. Total labour costs include employees' gross earnings and indirect costs. Gross earnings include direct remuneration and bonuses as well as the value of any social contributions, income taxes, etc. payable by the employee, even if actually withheld by the employer and paid directly to social insurance schemes, tax authorities, etc. on behalf of the employee. Indirect costs include the social contributions incurred by employers in order to secure for their employees the entitlement to social benefits. Indirect costs also include taxes connected to employment minus received subsidies intended to refund part or all of the cost of direct remuneration. Indices are based on the national currencies, and are not influenced by exchange rates. The original indices from Member States can be revised, and thus aggregates are recalculated. The data should not be considered as final. Data in the tables are shown as percentage changes compared to the same quarter a year earlier. To eliminate the effects of varying numbers of working days in the same quarters of different years (Easter and other moving holidays) these changes are presented in working day adjusted form where such series are available.
2. Whole economy here includes all market economic activities i.e.
C+D+E industry
F construction
G+H+I trade, hotels and restaurants, communication, transport
J+K financial and business services
3. Euro-zone: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. Since Greek figures are not yet available, the calculation of the euro-zone aggregates is done without Greece.
4. Revised data. The second estimate for the second quarter 2004, issued on 27 October 2004, was 2.1% in the euro-zone and 2.7% in the EU25.
5. EU25: Belgium (BE), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK). Data for Greece, Cyprus and Malta are not yet available, so the EU25 aggregates are calculated excluding these three Member States.
Further information
Germany: Revised series - new sources and methods. Figures for whole economy cover only sections G ‘distributive trade’ and J ‘financial institutions’ in the services (not sections H ‘hotels and restaurants’, I ‘communication and transports’ nor K ‘business services’). All sections in industry are included.
Ireland: Only section J ‘financial institutions’ is included in services. All sections in industry are included. In construction, managerial employees are excluded (9-10% of employees).
Italy: The indices are calculated on a per capita basis with blue collar workers being paid per day, so any reduction in the number of working days compared to the previous year causes a smaller wage and labour cost bill for the same number of employees. Italian figures correspond to enterprises employing 500 or more employees. Figures do not include section F ‘construction’.
Luxembourg: Due to the nature of the administrative data source used, figures do not necessarily include the part of wages that exceeds seven times the legal minimum wage (minimum wage is 1403 euro).
Austria: Figures for whole economy cover only industrial and construction sections.
Sweden: Figures cover the private sector for whole economy and include the service section which is wider than just sections GHIJK. Sections M (education), N (health and social work) and O (other community, social and personal service activities) are also included.
Issued by:Eurostat Press Office
Philippe BAUTIER
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/ For further information on data:
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