March 19 (SeeNews) - Romania registered the EU's highest annual rise in hourly wage costs in the last quarter of 2023, at 16.9%, followed by Hungary with 16.3% and Croatia with 16%, Eurostat said on Tuesday.
Among the other three EU member states in Southeast Europe (SEE), Slovenia and Bulgaria also posted annual wage cost growth of over 10%, at 12.5% and 11.9%, respectively, the bloc's statistical office said in a quarterly report.
In the fourth quarter, Greece's hourly wages grew the least in annual terms among EU states in SEE, by 6.1%, the data showed.
Hourly wage costs climbed by 3.8% on average in the EU in October-December compared to the same period of 2022, with the rate of increase decelerating from 5.7% recorded in the previous quarter.
Wages and salaries are one of the two main components of labour costs, the other being non-wage costs, among which employers’ social contributions.
In the EU as a whole, the hourly labour costs went up 4% year-on-year in the review period, with the highest rise booked in construction, at 5%.
In terms of overall nominal labour costs for the whole economy in the fourth quarter, Romania marked the bloc's steepest annual increase, at 16.8%. Hourly labour costs in Romania in the three months through December grew the most in construction, by 30.1%, followed by industry with 16.6% and services with 15.8%, Eurostat said.