“Why the hourly cost of workers is important in Belgium”

Published on Monday, April 4, 2022 at 05:55

By Pierre Nizet

Eurostat publishes the average hourly cost per worker in Europe. With 41.6 €/h, Belgium is on the EU podium, behind Denmark and Luxembourg. This does not mean that we have full pockets. Blame the taxes.

On average, and for the year 2021, the average hourly cost in the European Union is €29.1. This is revealed by Eurostat in its picture appeared recently. It is specified that the study only takes into account companies with at least ten workers. At the top of this ranking are Denmark (€46.9) and Luxembourg (€43.0). Belgium occupies an astonishing third place with an average hourly cost of €41.6 per worker. Behind us, we have Sweden (€39.7), the Netherlands (€38.3), France (€37.9), Austria (€37.5), Germany (37, €2) and Finland (€35.1). At the bottom of this ranking, there are all the former Eastern European countries, then Portugal (€16.0), Greece (€17.2), Malta (€17.3), Cyprus (18.3 €), Spain (€22.9) and Italy (€29.3).

>> For Philippe Defeytthe hourly cost risks playing a bad trick on our companies: explanations.

>> Here is why the hourly cost is so high in Belgium.

>> But the fact that bosses pay more doesn’t really translate into our wallets: it’s the fault of taxes, which are very important in Belgium.