In the 4thquarter of 2023, the Labour Cost Index (LCI) recorded a year-on-year increase of 5.7%. In the previous quarter, it had increased 5.1%.

The wage costs (per hour actually worked) increased by 5.5%, and the other labour costs (also per hour actually worked) increased by 6.8%, compared with the same period of the previous year.

The year-on-year change of the LCI resulted also from the increase of 6.1% in the average cost per employee and the 0.4% rise in the number of hours actually worked per employee. The increase of the first component was common to all economic activities, with smaller variations than those observed in the preceding quarter, with exception of Construction, which also recorded the highest rate of change, of 8.0%. A lower variation was observed in Public Administration (5.4%). The hours actually worked per employee also recorded increases in all economic activities, with exception of Public Administration, where it decreased by 0.2%. The largest increase was observed in Construction (3.0%) and the lowest in Services (0.3%). As a result of these variations, the LCI increased in all economic activities, with the largest increase being recorded in activities of sections B to N (5.8% in Industry, 4.9% in Construction, and 5.8% in Services).

In 2023, the LCI increased by 5.3%, corresponding to increases of 5.0% in wage costs and 6.4% in other labour costs. The average cost per employee increased by 7.1% and the number of hours actually worked per employee increased by 1.8%.