Technical sheet: Labour costs (B–S)
Definition, official source, coverage and calculation method of Labour costs (B–S). Country ranking →
Source: Eurostat (lc_lci_r2_q), retrieved 2026-10-17 · View on Eurostat
What it measures
| Indicator | Labour costs (B–S) |
|---|---|
| Unit | index 2020 = 100 |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Access | Basic |
Official Eurostat definition
| Dataset | Labour cost index by NACE Rev. 2 activity - nominal value, quarterly data (lc_lci_r2_q) |
|---|---|
| Time frequency | Quarterly |
| Seasonal adjustment | Unadjusted data (i.e. neither seasonally adjusted nor calendar adjusted data) |
| Unit of measure | Index, 2020=100 |
| Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2) | Industry, construction and services (except activities of households as employers and extra-territorial organisations and bodies) |
| Labour costs structure | Labour cost for LCI (compensation of employees plus taxes minus subsidies) |
| Permanent identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.2908/LC_LCI_R2_Q |
| Eurostat explanatory notes | Explanatory texts (metadata) |
| Last dataset update at Eurostat | 2026-09-16 |
How to read it
Descriptive indicator: a higher or lower value is not better in itself; the ranking orders from highest to lowest.
Coverage
| Countries with data | 27 ·                            |
|---|---|
| First period available | Q1 1996 |
| Latest period published | Q2 2026 |
| Ranking reference period | Q2 2026 Latest period for which at least 60% of the countries that publish the indicator have released data, so the ranking is not built on a few early countries. |
IPEF calculations
- Year-on-year change: difference from the same period a year earlier (in points for percentages, as a percentage (%) otherwise).
- Rank: order among countries with data for the period; the EU27 and euro-area aggregates are not ranked. Ties share the same rank.
- Trend: latest figure against the average of the previous periods (12 months, 8 quarters, 4 half-years or 5 years).
- IPEF calculations on Eurostat data: changes, ranks and averages are computed among the countries with data for the period. The EU27 and euro-area aggregates are those published by Eurostat and are not ranked.