Press release No. 489 of 9 December 2020
Labour costs per hour worked, 3rd quarter of 2020
-1.7% on the previous quarter (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+1.7% on the same quarter a year earlier (calendar adjusted)
WIESBADEN - Labour costs per hour worked in Germany were down by a seasonally and calendar adjusted 1.7% in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the second quarter of 2020. The second quarter, however, was unusual in that the measures to combat the pandemic resulted in a decrease especially of the number of hours worked, which in turn led to a large arithmetic increase in the cost per hour worked. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that labour costs were up 1.7% in calendar adjusted terms on the third quarter of 2019.
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, that is, the quarter before restrictions were imposed due to the corona pandemic in Germany, labour costs increased by 1.4% despite the recent decline described above. A large part of this increase (+2.1%) was recorded already in the first quarter of 2020, and it continued at a slower rate (+1.0%) in the second quarter of the year.
Increase in both gross earnings and non-wage costs
Labour costs consist of gross earnings and non-wage costs. In the third quarter of 2020, the costs of gross earnings increased by a calendar adjusted 1.7% year on year, while non-wage costs were up by 1.4%.
International comparison: labour cost increase of 3.6% in Germany in the 2nd quarter of 2020 compared with the previous year
The international comparison with the other Member States of the European Union (EU) is based on industry and the support services sector. Among others, the public service and the health sector are not included here. According to those results, the price of one hour worked in Germany rose by a calendar adjusted 3.6% in the second quarter of 2020 on the same quarter a year earlier. Over that period, the labour cost increase in Germany was below the EU average of 4.0%. The highest growth rates within the EU were recorded in Romania (+17.5%), Lithuania (+11.0%) and Hungary (+10.5%). In our neighbouring country, France, the increase in labour costs (+2.6%) was considerably lower than in Germany. Decreasing labour cost index values were observed in seven Member States, with Cyprus recording the largest decline (-8.6%).
Methodological notes
The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is not subject to seasonal fluctuations. During the current coronavirus crisis, the strong decreases especially in March/April 2020 and the slowly emerging recovery may produce highly different results for the comparison with the previous month/previous quarter and the comparison with the previous year. Both of the two perspectives are important: what is the short-term economic trend compared with the previous month/previous quarter, and how far has the catching-up process gone compared with the previous year’s level? In order to provide also a direct comparison with the pre-crisis level, all press releases on short-term indicators available in seasonally adjusted form will, for the time being, include a comparison with February 2020 or the 4th quarter of 2019.
The rates of labour cost change in countries outside the euro area are measured in the relevant national currency and, consequently, are not currency adjusted.
The rates of labour cost change are based on the results of the labour cost index. The latter measures the change in labour costs and additionally 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 hours actually worked by employees.
Revisions in the data sources used for calculating the labour cost index led to adjustments of the growth rates of the labour cost index. For instance, the calendar adjusted year-on-year rate of increase in the labour cost index was revised downwards for the second quarter of 2020 from +5.1% to +3.9%.
German EU Council Presidency in the field of statistics
The Federal Statistical Office has been responsible for organising the meetings of the Council Working Party on Statistics held during Germany’s EU Council Presidency under the chairmanship of its President Dr. Georg Thiel. Information on our activities during the Presidency of the Council of the EU is provided at destatis.de/eu2020.
For European statistics please go to “Europe in figures” at www.destatis.de/europa.
| 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 | ||||
| 2011 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.5 | |
| 2012 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 2.1 | |
| 2013 | 0.8 | 1.4 | -0.9 | |
| 2014 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 3.5 | |
| 2015 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 3.3 | |
| 2016 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | |
| 2017 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 3.5 | |
| 2018 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 1.8 | |
| 2019 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 2.2 | |
| Change on the same quarter a year earlier in % 1 | ||||
| 2018 | 1st quarter | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.3 |
| 2nd quarter | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.2 | |
| 3rd quarter | 3.0 | 3.3 | 2.1 | |
| 4th quarter | 2.2 | 2.7 | 0.5 | |
| 2019 | 1st quarter | 1.9 | 2.4 | 0.6 |
| 2nd quarter | 3.6 | 3.8 | 2.9 | |
| 3rd quarter | 2.8 | 3.0 | 1.8 | |
| 4th quarter | 3.0 | 2.9 | 3.2 | |
| 2020 | 1st quarter | 4.4 | 4.7 | 3.5 |
| 2nd quarter | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.4 | |
| 3rd quarter | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.4 | |
| Change on the previous quarter in % 2 | ||||
| 2018 | 1st quarter | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| 2nd quarter | -0.1 | 0.2 | -1.2 | |
| 3rd quarter | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | |
| 4th quarter | 0.1 | 0.3 | -0.8 | |
| 2019 | 1st quarter | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| 2nd quarter | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.3 | |
| 3rd quarter | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | |
| 4th quarter | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | |
| 2020 | 1st quarter | 2.1 | 2.3 | 1.2 |
| 2nd quarter | 1.0 | 0.7 | 2.2 | |
| 3rd quarter | -1.7 | -1.4 | -2.8 | |
| Member States of the European Union | Change in 2nd quarter of 2020 on 2nd quarter of 2019 1 | Year 2019 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 8 October 2020 and calculations by Destatis. / = No figure due to limited reliability | ||||
| European Union | 4.0 | 5.5 | -1.0 | 27.50 |
| Euro currency area | 4.1 | 5.4 | -0.2 | 31.30 |
| Belgium | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 40.80 |
| Bulgaria | 9.5 | 9.4 | 10.1 | 6.00 |
| Denmark | 0.7 | 3.8 | -17.6 | 46.00 |
| Germany | 3.6 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 35.90 |
| Estonia | 1.2 | 2.7 | -3.2 | 13.50 |
| Finland | 1.5 | 2.6 | -3.8 | 34.80 |
| France | 2.6 | 4.0 | -0.7 | 37.30 |
| Greece | 5.3 | 4.9 | 6.8 | 16.60 |
| Ireland | -4.9 | 4.6 | / | 31.60 |
| Italy | 5.2 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 27.90 |
| Croatia | -1.6 | -0.7 | -6.5 | 11.10 |
| Latvia | 2.6 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 10.40 |
| Lithuania | 11.0 | 12.4 | -10.0 | 9.50 |
| Luxembourg | -1.0 | -1.9 | 8.4 | 41.40 |
| Malta | -4.0 | 13.1 | / | 14.20 |
| Netherlands | -3.7 | 8.7 | / | 35.30 |
| Austria | - | - | - | 35.00 |
| Poland | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 10.40 |
| Portugal | 10.1 | 12.7 | -2.1 | 13.70 |
| Romania | 17.5 | 17.6 | 14.9 | 7.30 |
| Sweden | -3.7 | 1.6 | -15.0 | 39.00 |
| Slovakia | 5.1 | 11.7 | -14.2 | 12.70 |
| Slovenia | 4.7 | 8.0 | -15.6 | 19.20 |
| Spain | 8.7 | 6.3 | 15.7 | 21.40 |
| Czech Republic | 6.1 | 10.4 | -6.1 | 13.60 |
| Hungary | 10.5 | 11.7 | 4.3 | 10.70 |
| Cyprus | -8.6 | -9.0 | -7.0 | 15.30 |
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.
