Employees in Romania, Bulgaria have lowest hourly compensations in EU

Employees in Romania received an average compensation of EUR 5.5 per hour worked in 2017, the second-lowest in the European Union (EU). Only Bulgarian employees made less, namely EUR 5.1 per hour. The average hourly compensation of employees in the EU was EUR 23.1, with the highest levels recorded in Luxembourg (EUR 43.8), Denmark (EUR 38.7) and Belgium (EUR 37.9). The hourly compensation was also over EUR 30 in France, the Netherlands and Germany. Compared to 2007, the compensation of employees per hour worked was higher last year in all member states, except for Greece where it fell by 7% (from EUR 12.1 to EUR 11.2) and the United Kingdom (from EUR 27.3 to EUR 25.5). The largest relative increase over this ten-year period was recorded in Bulgaria (from EUR 2.3 to EUR 5.1, or +122%), ahead of Estonia (+67%), Slovakia and Lithuania (both 62%). In Romania, the average compensation per hour worked increased by 40%, from EUR 3.7 in 2017 to EUR 5.2. Romania had the highest share of employees at risk of poverty in EU, namely 18.9%, according to 2016 data. editor@romania-insider.com