In the EU, hourly labour costs, which include both wages and salaries and non-wage costs, grew by 5.1% in the (mainly) non-business economy and by 5.0% in the business economy: +5.3% in industry, +5.5 % in construction and +4.9% in services.
In Lithuania, hourly wage costs rose by 11% in July-September, year-on-year, the sixth biggest increase across the EU. In the second quarter, the country recorded a 10.9% rise in wage costs.
In the third quarter of 2024 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the highest increases in hourly wage costs for the whole economy were recorded in Romania (+17.1%), Croatia (+15.1%), Hungary (+14.1%), Bulgaria (+12.7%) and Latvia (+12.6%). Three more EU Member States recorded an increase of 10% or more, namely: Poland (+12.0%), Lithuania (+11.0%) and Austria (+10.0%), while Greece recorded a decrease (-2.9%).