The pace of wage rises in Romania is among the quickest in the EU, according to the statistics office Eurostat. In the third quarter of 2012, hourly labor costs for the whole economy rose in Romania by 7.2 percent, second only to Estonia, where the figure was 7.6 percent. Hourly labor costs includes wages and non-wage costs; in Romania wage costs also rose by 7.2 percent, while other costs went up by 7.1 percent – all compared to the same quarter a year previously.

Eurostat also breaks the figures down into the business and non-business economies, with public sector work accounting for most of the latter. In the business sector, labor costs were rising at a slightly lower rate in Q3 this year: 6.5 percent. However, in the non-business economy, labor cost rises in Romania were the highest in the EU during the third quarter, some 9.6 percent. In both cases, the percentage for wage and non-wage costs was the same as the total percentage.

The increases in labor costs have not been limited to the third quarter of this year in Romania. The quarterly results going back to mid-2011 show significant year-on-year rises. Hourly labor costs dipped to a lower rate of increase only in Q1 this year, when they were up by a more modest 4.6 percent. However, in every other quarter since Q3 2011, the year-on-year rise has been above 7 percent.

At an EU level, hourly labor costs were up on average by 1.9 percent in the EU27 and by 2 percent in the eurozone in Q3 this year, compared to the same quarter in 2011.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: sxc.hu)