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LUXEMBOURG – Luxembourg’s worker is one of the most expensive in the European Union.
The Luxembourg employee is one of the most expensive in the EU.
In Luxembourg, in 2021, an employer paid an average of 43 euros per hour worked, according to figures released on Monday by Eurostat. The Grand Duchy is thus one of the most expensive in this area, just behind Denmark (46.9 euros) and ahead of Belgium (41.6 euros). France and Germany are in 5th and 7th place respectively (37.9 and 37.2 euros) while the EU average is 29.1 euros.
It should be noted that it is in Luxembourg that the non-salary costs (essentially the social security contributions paid by the employer) are the lowest since they weigh only 11.1% of the total against 24.6% at European level. . This means that of the 43 euros paid by the employer, 38.10 euros go directly into the pocket of the employee, in wages and salaries.
Disparities between sectors
Two countries show hourly costs of less than 10 euros: Bulgaria (7 euros) and Romania (8.5 euros). It should be noted that while this cost remains very low in Lithuania (11.3 euros), it is the country which recorded the highest increase in 2021 (+12.5%) ahead of Estonia (+6.5%) , Cyprus and Slovenia (+6.2%). In Luxembourg, the increase was only 1.9%. In almost ten years, the hourly cost has however increased by almost 22% (compared to 19% at European level).
The hourly cost is obviously very different depending on the sector: it is thus 77.3 euros in the financial sector, i.e. more than three times higher than in the catering sector (14.5 euros) or that of administrative (excluding public services) where it is displayed at 26.2 euros.
(mc)