1. Home
  2. Studies
  3. The Structure of Labour Costs in the German Economy
Christoph Schröder IW-Trends No. 2 25. June 2013 The Structure of Labour Costs in the German Economy
The Structure of Labour Costs in the German Economy
Christoph Schröder IW-Trends No. 2 25. June 2013

The Structure of Labour Costs in the German Economy

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

In 2012 labour costs per full-time employee in manufacturing (including energy and construction) rose by 2.9 per cent in western Germany and by 3.5 per cent in the east. In the west, cost growth was much weaker than in previous years. However, this difference must be viewed in the light of the return of working hours to their pre-crisis level in 2010 and 2011. With a cost level of 40,540 euros, eastern German manufacturing is maintaining its cost advantage of around one third over its western German counterpart (61,200 euros). In services, there is a wide gap between the transport sector (43,980 euros) and the wholesale and retail trade (46,210 euros), on the one hand, and financial service providers (78,420 euros), on the other. Despite a decline in costs in 2012, at 61,860 euros business services also have slightly higher labour costs than industry.

Download | PDF

More on the topic

Read the article
Results of a Selection Experiment Examining how Job Applicants Decide
Helena Bach / Carolin Denise Fulda IW-Trends No. 3 23. September 2024

Collectively Agreed Wages as an Instrument for Recruiting Skilled Labour?

Companies are increasingly focussing their attention on the recruitment of skilled workers and thus facing the growing challenge of making their job advertisements as attractive as possible.

IW

Read the article
Oliver Stettes IW-Trends No. 3 8. August 2024

Areas of Conflict and the Role of Works Councils in the Digital and Green Transitions

Digitalisation processes and investments in environmental and climate protection are often accompanied by the introduction of new procedures and working methods.

IW

More about this topic

Content element with id 8880 Content element with id 9713