But Latvia's labor costs are less than half the EU average and around a third of the eurozone figure according to data on labor costs levels published by Eurostat March 28.
The lowest hourly labor costs were recorded in Bulgaria (€7.0) and Romania (€8.5), and the highest in Denmark (€46.9), Luxembourg (€43.0) and Belgium (€41.6).
In 2021, compared to 2020, hourly labor costs at whole economy level expressed in € rose by 1.7% in the EU and by 1.2% in the euro area.
Within the euro area, hourly labour costs increased in all Member States except Italy (-1.6%) and Spain (-0.3%). The largest increases were recorded in Lithuania (+12.5%), Estonia (+6.5%), Cyprus and Slovenia (+6.2% each) as well as Latvia (+6.1%).
