Press release No. 236 of 9 June 2022
Labour costs per hour worked, 1st quarter of 2022
+2.4% on the previous quarter (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+4.5% on the same quarter a year earlier (calendar adjusted)
WIESBADEN – Labour costs per hour worked in Germany were up by a seasonally and calendar adjusted 2.4% in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the fourth quarter of 2021. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that labour costs were up 4.5% in calendar adjusted terms on the first quarter of 2021.
Labour costs consist of gross earnings and non-wage costs and are shown in relation to hours worked. In the first quarter of 2022 the costs of gross earnings increased a calendar adjusted 4.3% on the first quarter of 2021, while non-wage costs were up by 5.3%.
Labour costs in the 4th quarter of 2021 up 2.6% on an EU average
European results are currently available for the fourth quarter of 2021. They show that the price of one hour worked was 2.6% higher, on average, in the 27 European Union (EU) Member States compared with the same quarter of the previous year. The 2.5% increase recorded in Germany was just under the average development in the EU. In Greece (-2.1%) and Portugal (-0.9%), the labour cost index decreased in the period studied. In contrast, the highest labour cost growth rates in the EU were recorded in Lithuania (+17.8%), Bulgaria (+11.7%), Slovakia (+11.0%) as well as Poland and Hungary (+10%).
Methodological note:
The comparison of labour costs in the EU Member States is based on industry and the support services sector. Among others, the public service and the health sector are not included here. The labour cost index for Germany, however, covers not only the entire industry but also all service branches.
The labour cost index measures the change in labour costs and provides a breakdown of labour costs into their two components, namely gross earnings and non-wage costs. In all three indices, the costs borne by employers are compared with the number of hours actually worked by employees. Revisions in the data sources used for calculating the labour cost index may lead to adjustments in the time series of growth rates of the labour cost index.
More information:
Detailed data and time series relating to the labour cost indices by branch of economic activity are available in table 62421-0001 of the GENESIS-Online database.
| Year, quarter | Index of labour costs, total | Index of gross earnings | Index of non-wage costs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Calendar-adjusted, X-13-JDEMETRA+. 2 Calendar and seasonally adjusted, X-13-JDEMETRA+. | ||||
| Change on the previous year in % 1 | ||||
| 2017 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 3.4 | |
| 2018 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 3.4 | |
| 2019 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 2.6 | |
| 2020 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.1 | |
| 2021 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 | |
| Change on the same quarter a year earlier in % 1 | ||||
| 2020 | 1st quarter | 4.5 | 4.9 | 3.0 |
| 2nd quarter | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | |
| 3rd quarter | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | |
| 4th quarter | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.9 | |
| 2021 | 1st quarter | 1.4 | 2.2 | -1.0 |
| 2nd quarter | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | |
| 3rd quarter | 2.7 | 2.5 | 3.1 | |
| 4th quarter | 2.3 | 1.9 | 3.9 | |
| 2022 | 1st quarter | 4.5 | 4.3 | 5.3 |
| Change on the previous quarter in % 2 | ||||
| 2020 | 1st quarter | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| 2nd quarter | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | |
| 3rd quarter | -1.8 | -1.6 | -2.6 | |
| 4th quarter | 1.8 | 1.4 | 3.2 | |
| 2021 | 1st quarter | 0.3 | 1.2 | -2.6 |
| 2nd quarter | 0.0 | -0.7 | 2.3 | |
| 3rd quarter | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | |
| 4th quarter | 1.5 | 0.8 | 3.8 | |
| 2022 | 1st quarter | 2.4 | 3.5 | -1.0 |
| Member States of the European Union 5 | Change in 4th quarter of 2021 on 4th quarter of 2020 1 | Year 2021 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index of labour costs, total | Index of gross earnings | Index of non-wage costs | Labour costs per hour worked | |
| in % 3 | EUR | |||
| 1 Source: Eurostat online database of 30 May 2022. 2 Source: Eurostat online database of 21 April 2022 and Destatis calculations. 3 Calendar adjusted by means of the relevant national methods. 4 Status of calculation: 1st quarter of 2022. 5 The rates of labour cost change in countries outside the euro area are measured in the relevant national currency and, consequently, are not exchange-rate adjusted. | ||||
| European Union | 2.6 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 28.6 |
| Euro currency area | 2.1 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 32.5 |
| Belgium | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 41.9 |
| Bulgaria | 11.7 | 12.2 | 8.8 | 6.8 |
| Denmark | 4.4 | 3.1 | 9.9 | 48.3 |
| Germany 4 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 3.9 | 37.3 |
| Estonia | 7.6 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 14.5 |
| Finland | 4.1 | 2.6 | 11.5 | 36.3 |
| France | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 38.3 |
| Greece | -2.1 | -0.3 | -8.5 | 17.6 |
| Ireland | 8.4 | 3.6 | x | 31.8 |
| Italy | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 28.5 |
| Croatia | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 10.9 |
| Latvia | 5.9 | 6.2 | 4.8 | 11.4 |
| Lithuania | 17.8 | 11.5 | x | 11.3 |
| Luxembourg | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 42.7 |
| Malta | 0.5 | 4.6 | -18.4 | 15.4 |
| Netherlands | 3.6 | 0.6 | 18.4 | 36.9 |
| Austria | 3.9 | 3.5 | 5.3 | 38.5 |
| Poland | 10.0 | 10.0 | 9.9 | 11.2 |
| Portugal | -0.9 | -0.8 | -1.0 | 14.7 |
| Romania | 8.0 | 8.0 | 7.6 | 8.1 |
| Sweden | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 42.4 |
| Slovakia | 11.0 | 8.4 | 18.8 | 14 |
| Slovenia | 9.2 | 9.3 | 8.5 | 20.8 |
| Spain | 0.6 | 1.4 | -1.5 | 22.6 |
| Czech Republic | 7.8 | 3.7 | 19.6 | 15.1 |
| Hungary | 10.0 | 10.1 | 10.0 | 11 |
| Cyprus | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 16.1 |
