In the 4th quarter of 2025, the Labour Cost Index (LCI) recorded a year-on-year increase of 6.9%. In the previous quarter, it had increased 4.8%.

The wage costs (per hour actually worked) increased by 7.0% and the other labour costs (also per hour actually worked) increased by 6.9%, compared with the same period of the previous year.

The year-on-year change of the LCI resulted also from the increase of 4.9% in the average cost per employee and the decrease of 1.7% in the number of hours actually worked per employee. The increase of the average cost per employee was common to all economic activities, with higher increases in Construction (6.4%) and lower in Public Administration (4.8%). With the exception of Industry, which presented a higher increase than in the preceding quarter, and Construction, whose value remained unchanged, Public Administration and Services recorded lower increases. The hours actually worked per employee increased 0.7% in Public Administration and 0.6% in Construction and decreased 4.2% in Services and 0.8% in Industry. As a result of these variations, the LCI increased in all economic activities, with the largest increase being recorded in Services (9.7%).

In 2025, the LCI increased by 5.5%, corresponding to increases of 5.5% in wage costs and in other labour costs. The average cost per employee increased by 5.5% and the number of hours actually worked per employee increased by 0.2%.