Labour cost statistics constitute a hierarchical system of multi-annual, yearly and quarterly statistics, designed to provide a comprehensive and detailed picture of the level, structure and short-term development of labour costs in the different sectors of economic activity in the European Union and certain other countries. All statistics are based on a harmonised definition of labour costs.

The labour cost levels are based on the latest Labour Cost Survey (currently 2016) and an extrapolation based on the quarterly Labour Cost Index (LCI). The levels are available in euro and national currency.

The Labour Cost Survey is a four-yearly survey that collects levels of labour costs at a very detailed level. For the purpose of extrapolating with the LCI, data are only used at a very aggregated level.

The quarterly LCI is a Euro Indicator which measures the cost pressure arising from the production factor "labour". The data covered in the LCI collection relate to total average hourly labour costs and to the labour cost categories "wages and salaries" and "employers' social security contributions plus taxes paid minus subsidies received by the employer". Data - also broken down by economic activity, are available for the EU aggregates and EU Member States (NACE Rev 2 Sections B to S), in working day and seasonally adjusted form. The data on the Labour Cost Index are given in the form of index numbers (current reference year: 2016) and of annual and quarterly growth rates (comparison with the previous quarter, or the same quarter of the previous year).

The data are estimated by the National Statistical Institutes on the basis of available structural and short-term information from samples and administrative records for enterprises of all sizes.

Labour cost statistics constitute a hierarchical system of multi-annual, yearly and quarterly statistics, designed to provide a comprehensive and detailed picture of the level, structure and short-term development of labour costs in the different sectors of economic activity in the European Union and certain other countries. All statistics are based on a harmonised definition of labour costs.

The quarterly Labour Cost Index (LCI) is one of the Principal European economic indicators. It shows the short-term development of the labour cost, the total cost on an hourly basis of employing labour. In other words, the LCI measures the cost pressure arising from the production factor “labour”.

The data covered by the LCI collection relate to the total average hourly labour costs and its components "wages and salaries" and "employers' social security contributions plus taxes paid minus subsidies received by the employer" (known as the non-wage component of the LCI). The data on vocational training costs and other expenditures such as recruitment costs and working clothes expenditure is not included in the calculation of the labour cost index.

The data is broken down by economic activity (NACE Rev 1.1 Sections C to O (1996Q1-2008Q4) and NACE Rev. 2 Sections B to S (2009Q1 onwards). The data is available for the EU aggregates and the EU Member States, EFTA countries (Iceland and Norway) as well as candidate and potential candidate countries (Serbia and Turkey). The data is available as 'unadjusted data (neither seasonally adjusted nor calendar adjusted data)', 'calendar-adjusted data' as well as 'seasonally and calendar adjusted' data.

The data on the Labour Cost Index is given in the form of index numbers (current base year: 2020) and as annual and quarterly growth rates (comparison with the previous quarter, or the same quarter of the previous year). Since June 2023 (publication of 2023Q1 data) base year of the indices changed from 2016 to 2020. Indices with the base year 2016 will no longer be published.

The National Statistical Institutes compile the indicators based on the available structural and short-term information collected directly from the sampled enterprises or taken from administrative data sources. All enterprises, irrespective of the size (measured by the number of employees) are covered in the LCI.

In addition, Eurostat estimates of the annual labour cost per hour in euros are provided for the EU Member States as well as the whole EU; they were obtained by combining the four-yearly Labour cost survey (LCS) with the quarterly labour cost index. Methodological information related to the annual estimates of hourly labour costs is available in separate metadata accessible here.

Early estimates of the Labour Cost Index (‘flash estimates’ or ‘FEs’) (quarterly)

Since May 2024, Eurostat has started publishing early estimates for the Labour Cost Index (‘flash estimates’ or ‘FEs’). The flash estimates (are published around t+50 days, as specified in the general release calendar of Eurostat, based on the data transmitted at t+45 days. EU countries that participate in the FE data collection are those whose annual number of employees (over the age of 15) represents more than 3% of EU totals or 3% of euro area totals, based on LFS data assessed over a period of three consecutive years. These 9 selected countries (i.e. ‘FE countries ’) are: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Poland and Romania (see table 1).

Table 1: Share of EA/EU employees in each of the participating countries.

(Source: EU-LFS, reference period 2023)