In 2024, companies in the manufacturing and service sectors in Germany paid an average of 43.40 euros for an hour worked.

As the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday, labor costs in Germany were the seventh highest in the European Union (EU-27). Compared to the EU average of €33.50, German employers paid around 30 percent more for an hour's work in 2024. The relative gap to the EU average has thus remained virtually unchanged since 2022. Labour costs per hour worked vary greatly across the EU.

The highest labor costs per hour worked in 2024 were paid in Luxembourg (€55.20), Denmark (€50.10), and Belgium (€48.20). The countries with the lowest labor costs were Hungary (€14.10), Romania (€12.50), and Bulgaria (€10.60). In the manufacturing sector, an hourly wage cost an average of €48.30 in 2024, around 43 percent more than the EU average of €33.70. In this economic sector, labor costs in Germany were the fourth highest in the EU. For market services, labor costs in Germany averaged €42.10 per hour, around 26 percent higher than the EU average (€33.30). Germany ranked seventh in the EU in this regard. The highest percentage increases in labor costs in 2024 were recorded in Poland (+19.0 percent), Croatia (+14.2 percent), Bulgaria (+13.9 percent), and Romania (+13.5 percent). The increases were weakest in the Czech Republic (+1.3 percent), Finland (+1.8 percent), Luxembourg (+2.1 percent), and Belgium (+2.4 percent). In Germany, the increase of +5.0 percent was in line with the EU average.