Malta's labour costs lowest in EU

Malta's labour costs are the lowest in the EU, according to figures published yesterday by Eurostat.

Malta recorded the lowest increase in its costs related to wages and salaries, with only a slight increase of 0.7 per cent - the same as Germany which has the biggest economy in the EU.

Meanwhile, Malta lowered its non-wage costs related to labour by 4.8 per cent between June 2005 to last June.

Malta's performance by far outperforms the other EU member states which recorded an increase in their nominal hourly labour cost of 3.1 per cent.

Latvia had the sharpest rise and saw its hourly labour cost shoot up by 22.7 per cent in just 12 months. Lithuania (21.1 per cent), Estonia (16.4 per cent), the Czech Republic (10.1 per cent) and Hungary (8.7 per cent) all registered substantial increases.

This exercise, called the Labour Cost Index, is a short-term indicator drawn up by the EU showing the development of hourly labour costs incurred by employers.