Bulgarian labour costs rising, but still lowest in the EU

Hourly labour costs in Bulgaria increased by close to 43 per cent between 2008 and 2012 – but that is not that astonishing a statistic, considering that in real terms that was a rise from 2.6 euro an hour to 3.7 euro an hour, still the lowest among the 27 member states of the European Union. 

This emerges from figures released on April 10 2013 by EU statistics office Eurostat, cited by Sofia Globe. 

In 2012, the four lowest labour costs in the EU were all in states that acceded to the bloc either in 2004 or 2007: Bulgaria, at 3.7 euro an hour, its northern neighbour Romania at 4.4 euro an hour, and Baltic states Lithuania and Latvia at 5.8 and six euro an hour, respectively. 

In 2012, average hourly labour costs in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration) were estimated to be 23.4 euro in the EU27 and 28 euro in the euro zone. However, Eurostat said, this average masks significant differences among EU member states, with hourly labour costs ranging at their highest to 39 euro in Sweden, 38.1 euro in Denmark, 37.2 euro in Belgium, 34.6 euro in Luxembourg and 34.2 euro in France. When comparing labour cost estimates in euro over time, it should be noted that data for those member states outside the euro area are influenced by exchange rate movements, Eurostat said. 

Source: amcham.bg