Press release No. 101 of 11 March 2022
Labour costs per hour worked, 4th quarter of 2021
+1.5% on the previous quarter (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+2.4% on the same quarter a year earlier (calendar adjusted)
WIESBADEN – Labour costs per hour worked in Germany increased by a seasonally and calendar adjusted 1.5% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with the third quarter of 2021. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that labour costs were up 2.4% in calendar adjusted terms on the fourth quarter of 2020.
Labour costs consist of gross earnings and non-wage costs and are shown in relation to hours worked. In calendar adjusted terms, the costs of gross earnings in the fourth quarter of 2021 rose by 1.9% year on year, while non-wage costs increased by 3.9%.
Labour costs up 5.6% from pre-crisis level
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, the relevant quarter before the Covid-19 crisis began, the labour cost index rose by 5.6% in the fourth quarter of 2021. The increase is mainly due to the fact that labour costs rose more strongly than the overall number of hours worked per employee.
European development: EU average +2.9%, large differences between countries
European results are currently available for the third quarter of 2021. They show that the price of one hour worked was 2.9% higher, on average, in the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. The 2.2% increase recorded in Germany was below the average development in the EU. In Greece (-1.1%), the labour cost index decreased in the period studied. In contrast, the highest labour cost growth rates in the EU were recorded by Lithuania (+15.5%), Bulgaria (+12.3%), Poland (+9.8%), Malta (+9.5 %) and Romania (+9.0%).
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 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.
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 calendar adjusted comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is independent of seasonal fluctuations and calendar effects. Due to temporarily strong decreases and increases during the current Covid-19 crisis, the results of month-on-month/quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably.
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 | ||||
| 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 | 2.6 | 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 | |
| Change on the same quarter a year earlier in % 1 | ||||
| 2019 | 1st quarter | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.0 |
| 2nd quarter | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.5 | |
| 3rd quarter | 2.8 | 3.0 | 2.2 | |
| 4th quarter | 3.0 | 2.8 | 3.5 | |
| 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 | -1.1 |
| 2nd quarter | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | |
| 3rd quarter | 2.7 | 2.5 | 3.1 | |
| 4th quarter | 2.4 | 1.9 | 3.9 | |
| Change on the previous quarter in % 2 | ||||
| 2019 | 1st quarter | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.4 |
| 2nd quarter | 1.5 | 1.8 | 0.5 | |
| 3rd quarter | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.4 | |
| 4th quarter | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |
| 2020 | 1st quarter | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| 2nd quarter | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | |
| 3rd quarter | -1.8 | -1.5 | -2.6 | |
| 4th quarter | 1.8 | 1.4 | 3.2 | |
| 2021 | 1st quarter | 0.3 | 1.2 | -2.7 |
| 2nd quarter | 0.0 | -0.7 | 2.4 | |
| 3rd quarter | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | |
| 4th quarter | 1.5 | 0.8 | 3.7 | |
| Member States of the European Union 5 | Change in 3rd quarter of 2021 on 3rd quarter of 2020 1 | Year 2020 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 7 march 2022. 2 Source: Eurostat online database of 8 February 2021 and Destatis calculations. 3 Calendar adjusted by means of the relevant national methods. 4 Status of calculation: 4th quarter of 2021. 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 | 2.9 | 2,8 | 3,3 | 28,0 |
| Euro currency area | 2.4 | 2,2 | 2,9 | 32,1 |
| Belgium | 0.8 | 0,8 | 0,8 | 41,4 |
| Bulgaria | 12.3 | 12,8 | 9,7 | 6,4 |
| Denmark | 5.7 | 4,4 | 11,7 | 46,9 |
| Germany 4 | 2.2 | 2,1 | 2,4 | 36,7 |
| Estonia | 7.7 | 7,9 | 7,0 | 13,7 |
| Finland | 4.7 | 3,2 | 12,5 | 34,9 |
| France | 1.2 | 1,6 | 0,3 | 38,1 |
| Greece | -1.1 | -2,3 | 3,5 | 17,3 |
| Ireland | 4.7 | 4,3 | 9,4 | 30,5 |
| Italy | 2.3 | 2,9 | 0,7 | 29,1 |
| Croatia | 4.7 | 4,7 | 4,6 | 10,6 |
| Latvia | 1.1 | 1,5 | -0,5 | 11,0 |
| Lithuania | 15.5 | 12,3 | 303,8 | 10,1 |
| Luxembourg | 1.6 | 1,7 | 1,0 | 41,8 |
| Malta | 9.5 | 4,9 | -96,0 | 13,7 |
| Netherlands | 4.2 | 1,3 | 17,5 | 35,2 |
| Austria | 6.2 | 6,0 | 6,6 | 38,0 |
| Poland | 9.8 | 9,8 | 9,8 | 10,6 |
| Portugal | 2.9 | 2,3 | 5,0 | 14,4 |
| Romania | 9.0 | 9,0 | 9,2 | 7,7 |
| Sweden | 1.7 | 2,7 | -0,4 | 39,8 |
| Slovakia | 8.2 | 7,5 | 9,8 | 13,3 |
| Slovenia | 6.3 | 6,1 | 7,8 | 19,5 |
| Spain | 1.9 | 2,1 | 1,5 | 22,6 |
| Czech Republic | 8.8 | 6,3 | 15,2 | 14,0 |
| Hungary | 8.5 | 9,1 | 5,4 | 10,6 |
| Cyprus | 8.4 | 3,8 | 41,5 | 14,9 |
