BERLIN: The latest numbers show labour is more expensive in Germany than in many other EU member states, especially in the industrial sector, though the trend does not show any negative effects for the country’s competitiveness. EurActiv Germany reports.
In 2014, employers spent an average of €31.80 per man-hour in Germany’s private sector economy. This ranks the country eighth among its EU counterparts, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Monday (4 May) in Wiesbaden.
In the manufacturing industry, which faces particularly high international competition, one man-hour costs €37 on average. Here, Germany ranked fourth in the EU-wide comparison.
Still, the country’s industry remains competitive internationally. This is largely due to high productivity, the GNP generated by each worker, a category where Germany performed above the EU average.
Europe’s highest labour costs in the private sector were found in Denmark. There, one man-hour costs €42 on average, according to the Statistical Office’s numbers, with €41.60 in the manufacturing industry.
Employers paid the least in Bulgaria with an average of €3.80 per man-hour in the private sector economy overall and €3.20 in manufacturing. Labour costs were calculated by combining gross income and incidental wage costs.
In 2014, employers in Germany’s private economy spent an average of €28 on incidental wage costs per €100 of gross income paid.
