Data / Rankings / Nominal unit labour cost, annual growth / EU countries

EU countries by nominal unit labour cost, annual growth

Croatia had the highest nominal unit labour cost, annual growth of 27 EU countries in 2024, at 12.4%. Finland had the lowest, at -0.1%. The median was 5.4% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 4.7%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest12.4Croatia
Lowest-0.1Finland
Median5.427 EU countries
European Union (27)4.7History

Map of EU countries, 2024

Austria: 7.7 %Belgium: 2.6 %Bulgaria: 11.5 %Cyprus: 1.6 %Czechia: 4.9 %Germany: 5.3 %Denmark: 1.2 %Estonia: 6.7 %Spain: 3 %Finland: -0.1 %France: 2.3 %Greece: 5 %Croatia: 12.4 %Hungary: 12.1 %Ireland: 5.7 %Italy: 3.9 %Lithuania: 6.4 %Luxembourg: 0.8 %Latvia: 5.4 %Malta: 7.6 %Netherlands: 6.5 %Poland: 8.7 %Portugal: 6.3 %Romania: 9 %Sweden: 2.5 %Slovenia: 4.5 %Slovakia: 5.5 %
  • Under 0
  • 0 to 4.6
  • 4.6 to 6.5
  • 6.5 and over
%, 2024. Red areas are below zero and blue areas above it. Source: Eurostat, Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2024

Croatia: 12.4 %Croatia12.4Hungary: 12.1 %Hungary12.1Bulgaria: 11.5 %Bulgaria11.5Romania: 9 %Romania9Poland: 8.7 %Poland8.7Austria: 7.7 %Austria7.7Malta: 7.6 %Malta7.6Estonia: 6.7 %Estonia6.7Netherlands: 6.5 %Netherlands6.5Lithuania: 6.4 %Lithuania6.4Portugal: 6.3 %Portugal6.3Ireland: 5.7 %Ireland5.7Slovakia: 5.5 %Slovakia5.5Latvia: 5.4 %Latvia5.4Germany: 5.3 %Germany5.3Greece: 5 %Greece5Czechia: 4.9 %Czechia4.9Slovenia: 4.5 %Slovenia4.5Italy: 3.9 %Italy3.9Spain: 3 %Spain3Belgium: 2.6 %Belgium2.6Sweden: 2.5 %Sweden2.5France: 2.3 %France2.3Cyprus: 1.6 %Cyprus1.6Denmark: 1.2 %Denmark1.2Luxembourg: 0.8 %Luxembourg0.8Finland: -0.1 %Finland-0.1Croatia: 12.4 %Croatia12.4Hungary: 12.1 %Hungary12.1Bulgaria: 11.5 %Bulgaria11.5Romania: 9 %Romania9Poland: 8.7 %Poland8.7Austria: 7.7 %Austria7.7Malta: 7.6 %Malta7.6Estonia: 6.7 %Estonia6.7Netherlands: 6.5 %Netherlands6.5Lithuania: 6.4 %Lithuania6.4Portugal: 6.3 %Portugal6.3Ireland: 5.7 %Ireland5.7Slovakia: 5.5 %Slovakia5.5Latvia: 5.4 %Latvia5.4Germany: 5.3 %Germany5.3Greece: 5 %Greece5Czechia: 4.9 %Czechia4.9Slovenia: 4.5 %Slovenia4.5Italy: 3.9 %Italy3.9Spain: 3 %Spain3Belgium: 2.6 %Belgium2.6Sweden: 2.5 %Sweden2.5France: 2.3 %France2.3Cyprus: 1.6 %Cyprus1.6Denmark: 1.2 %Denmark1.2Luxembourg: 0.8 %Luxembourg0.8Finland: -0.1 %Finland-0.1
%. Source: Eurostat, Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc). Retrieved 2026-10-20.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2024 (%)Change on 2023
1Croatia12.4+1 pts
2Hungary12.1-4.5 pts
3Bulgaria11.5-1.3 pts
4Romania9-7 pts
5Poland8.7-5.5 pts
6Austria7.7-0.9 pts
7Malta7.6+5 pts
8Estonia6.7-8.8 pts
9Netherlands Provisional6.5-2 pts
10Lithuania6.4-3.9 pts
11Portugal6.3-1.9 pts
12Ireland5.7-5.7 pts
13Slovakia5.5-2.9 pts
14Latvia5.4-3.3 pts
15Germany Provisional5.3-2.7 pts
16Greece Provisional5+1.5 pts
17Czechia4.9-3.7 pts
18Slovenia4.5-3.9 pts
19Italy3.9+0.1 pts
20Spain Provisional3-2.9 pts
21Belgium2.6-4.1 pts
22Sweden2.5-4.3 pts
23France Provisional2.3-1.6 pts
24Cyprus Provisional1.6-7 pts
25Denmark1.2-2.4 pts
26Luxembourg Provisional0.8-8.7 pts
27Finland-0.1-5.7 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Percentage change from the previous year in the nominal unit labour cost based on persons: compensation per employee divided by real labour productivity per person employed (GDP in chain-linked volumes per person employed).

Rises when pay grows faster than productivity. From the national accounts (ESA 2010). Ireland's GDP, and with it its productivity, is inflated and made volatile by the activities of multinational companies, notably the move of intellectual property to Ireland in 2015.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama_10_lp_ulc/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-20.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc) (EU countries by nominal unit labour cost, annual growth, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama_10_lp_ulc/default/table

MLA 9

Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc), EU countries by nominal unit labour cost, annual growth, 2024. Eurostat, European Commission, 19 Oct. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama_10_lp_ulc/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nominal-unit-labour-cost-growth/eu-countries?period=2024. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc). EU countries by nominal unit labour cost, annual growth, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama_10_lp_ulc/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nominal-unit-labour-cost-growth/eu-countries?period=2024.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc), EU countries by nominal unit labour cost, annual growth, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama_10_lp_ulc/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nominal-unit-labour-cost-growth/eu-countries?period=2024 (Accessed: 20 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_nominal_2024,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama\_10\_lp\_ulc): EU countries by nominal unit labour cost, annual growth, 2024}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama_10_lp_ulc/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-20},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nominal-unit-labour-cost-growth/eu-countries?period=2024. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama\_10\_lp\_ulc). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama\_10\_lp\_ulc/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-20.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc): EU countries by nominal unit labour cost, annual growth, 2024
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/19
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama_10_lp_ulc/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nominal-unit-labour-cost-growth/eu-countries?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/20
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nominal-unit-labour-cost-growth/eu-countries?period=2024.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama_10_lp_ulc/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank EU countries by nominal unit labour cost, annual growth using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"nominal_unit_labour_cost_growth","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=nominal_unit_labour_cost_growth&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which EU country has the highest nominal unit labour cost, annual growth?

Croatia, with 12.4% in 2024, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest nominal unit labour cost, annual growth?

Finland, with -0.1% in 2024.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Labour productivity and unit labour costs, nominal unit labour cost based on persons, percentage change on previous period (nama_10_lp_ulc). Retrieved 2026-10-20.

EU countries: more rankings