The cost of labour in the euro area rose by 4 per cent in the second quarter of 2009, compared to a year earlier, but those of Malta rose by only 0.3 per cent, the 3rd lowest rate in the EU according to EU statistical office Eurostat.

The 2 main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs. In the euro area, wages and salaries grew by 3.9 per cent in the year up to the second quarter of 2009 (Malta 0.3 per cent), and non-wage costs by 4.2 per cent (Malta: 0.1 per cent), compared with 3.4 per cent (Malta: 1.5 per cent) and 4.1 per cent (Malta: 1.1 per cent) respectively for the first quarter of 2009.

Among the member states for which data are available for the second quarter of 2009, annual decreases in hourly labour costs were observed in Lithuania (-6.2 per cent) and Estonia (-0.6 per cent) while Malta saw the lowest increase (0.3 per cent). The highest annual rises were registered in Bulgaria (15.5 per cent) and Romania (11.7 per cent).