EU statistics show that labour costs most in Denmark

Wages and salaries make up most of the cost for employers

Coming on the tail of the recent debate about the Danish labour market and defence of the so-called Danish model (not Helena Christensen, as Ryanair head David O’Brien quipped), new figures from the European Commission’s statistics office Eurostat have confirmed what many Danish business owners have long suspected: labour costs in Denmark are the highest in the EU.

High wages, low contributions
In 2014 the average hourly labour cost in Denmark was 40.3 euros, whereas the EU average was 24.6 euros and the lowest costs could be found in Bulgaria where an average hour’s labour costs just 3.8 euros.

The labour costs comprise wages and salaries and other costs, such as employers’ social contributions. There was also great disparity between the EU member states as to the extent of the non-wage costs.

The average across the EU was for the non-wage costs to make up 24.4 percent of the total labour cost. In Denmark this proportion was the second lowest at 13.1 percent.

The hourly labour cost across the EU rose by 1.4 percent from 2013. Denmark had the smallest rise, with an increase of just 0.9 percent.

TOP STORIES

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs