Total labour costs in Germany rose 2.3% in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office.

Looking at the fourth quarter, labour costs in Germany rose by 2.0% in calendar-adjusted terms. However, fourth-quarter labour costs were down from the third quarter with seasonal and calendar adjustments; it was the first quarter-over-quarter decrease since the second quarter of 2016.

The office also compared labour costs in Germany with other European Union states for the third quarter. In this period, Germany’s labour costs rose a calendar-adjusted 2.4% from the third quarter of 2017. The average increase in the EU was 2.8%. The EU countries with the highest increases in labour costs in the third quarter included Latvia, up 13.9%; Romania, up 10.4%; and Lithuania, up 10.3%.