site.btaBulgaria Tops EU Hourly Wage Costs Rise Ranking for Q3 2024, Y/Y - Eurostat

In the third quarter of 2025, compared with the same quarter of 2024, Bulgaria showed the highest increase in hourly wage costs for the whole economy among the 27 EU Member States, 12.4%, followed by Lithuania (+9.7%), Croatia (+9.1%), and Hungary (+8.8%), according to figures published by the EU Statistical Office (Eurostat) on Wednesday.

In Bulgaria, the costs of hourly wages and salaries rose by 12.4% in Q3 2024, year on year, and the non-wage component increase by 12.1% over the same period.

The lowest increases in hourly wage costs were recorded in France (+1.3%), Slovenia (+1.6%), Spain (+2.0%), Austria (+2.1%) and Italy (+2.4%), while Malta recorded a decrease of -1.4%.

In the third quarter of 2025, the hourly labour costs rose by 3.3% in the euro area and by 3.7% in the EU, compared with the same quarter of the previous year. 

In the EU, in the third quarter of 2025 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the costs of hourly wages and salaries increased by 3.5%, while the non-wage component increased by 4.2%, Eurostat reported.