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Average hourly labor costs in Estonia stood at 8.4 euros in 2012, 36 percent of the average for the 27 member states of the European Union, figures published by Eurostat show.
Hourly labor costs in Estonia make up 36 pct of EU average - Eurostat
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The figure puts Estonia in eighth place from the bottom among the EU27, between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Average hourly labor costs totaled 23.4 euros in the EU27 and 28.0 euros in the euro area (EA17).
Hourly labor costs are counted for the whole economy excluding agriculture and public administration.
The figure ranged from 3.7 euros in Bulgaria, 4.4 euros in Romania, 5.8 euros in Lithuania and 6.0 euros in Latvia, to 39.0 euros in Sweden, 38.1 euros in Denmark, 37.2 euros in Belgium, 34.6 euros in Luxembourg and 34.2 euros in France. Eurostat pointed out that data for the member states outside the euro area are influenced by exchange rate movements.
Between 2008 and 2012, hourly labor costs in the whole economy expressed in euros have risen by 8.6 percent in the EU27 and by 8.7 percent in the euro area. Within the euro area, the largest increases were recorded in Austria, +15.5 percent, Slovakia, +13.8 percent, Finland, +13.7 percent, and Belgium, +13.1 percent, and the smallest in Portugal, +0.4 percent, and Ireland, +0.8 percent. The only decrease was observed in Greece, -11.2 percent.
For member states outside the euro area, and expressed in national currency, the largest increases in hourly labor costs in the whole economy between 2008 and 2012 were registered in Bulgaria, +42.6 percent, and Romania, +26.7 percent, and the smallest in Latvia, +1.3 percent, and the United Kingdom, +5.2 percent. The only decrease was observed in Lithuania, -1.4 percent.
Labor costs are made up of wages and salaries and non-wage costs such as employers' social contributions. The share of non-wage costs in the whole economy was 23.7 percent in the EU27 and 26.1 percent in the euro area, varying between 8.2 percent in Malta and 33.6 percent in France.