CYPRUS: Annual labour costs grow 2.6% in Q4 2018

Hourly labour costs rose 2.6% in Cyprus in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with the same quarter of the previous year, putting it slightly below the EU average.

Hourly labour costs rose by 2.3% in the euro area (EA19) and by 2.8% in the EU28. In Q3 2018, European hourly labour costs increased by 2.5% and 2.6% respectively. For Cyprus labour costs rose 3.3% in Q3.

The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs. For Cyprus wages and salaries grew 2.7% and other costs by 2.2% in Q4 from 3.3% and 3.2% in Q3.

In the euro area, the cost of wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 2.3% and the non-wage component by 2.4% in Q4 2018 compared to 2017.

In Q3 2018, the annual changes were +2.3% and +2.9% respectively. In the EU28, the costs of hourly wages & salaries rose by 3% and the non-wage component rose by 2.2% in Q4 2018. In Q3, annual changes were +2.7% and +2.4% respectively.

Breakdown by economic activity

In Q4 2018 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 1.9% in industry, +2.4% in construction, +2.5% in services and +2.4% in the (mainly) non-business economy.

For Cyprus hourly labour costs in the business economy rose 2.4% and by 3.1% in the non-business economy.

In the EU28, labour costs per hour grew by 2.4% in industry, +2.8% in construction and in services, and +3.0% in the (mainly) non-business economy.

The highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Romania (+13.1%), Latvia (+11.8%), Portugal (+10.3%), and Lithuania (+10.2%), while the only decrease was recorded in Malta (-0.5%)