Overall, the hourly labor costs in Romania are around 5 euro/hour, representing 1/5 of EU average in 2015, where hourly labor cost is 25 euro per hour. By sectors, total labor costs in Romania are among the lowest in EU, well below EU28 average in all activity sectors.
In 2015, mean hourly labor costs in industry was 5 Euro per hour (five times lower than EU28 average of 25,9 euro per hour); in construction sector was 3,6 euro per hour (six times lower than EU28 average of 22,4 euro per hour); in services of the business economy was 5,4 euro per hours (4,6 times lower than EU28 average of 24,9 euro).
At the same time, the highest hourly labor costs in Romania by sector in 2015 were found in sectors like mining and quarrying (11 euro per hour), financial and insurance activities (10,7 euro per hour) and information and insurance activities (10,7 euro per hour). However, sectors like accommodation and food service activities (2,8 euro per hour), arts, entertainment and recreation (3,6 euro per hour) and administrative and support service activities (3,6 euro per hour) are among the sectors with the lowest hourly total labor costs in Romania.
Minimum Monthly Gross Wage
In January 2016, 22 out of the 28 EU Member States (Denmark, Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Finland and Sweden were the exceptions) had a national minimum wage. According Eurostat, monthly minimum wages varied widely in EU Member States. Romania has the second lowest minimum wage, around 233 Euro per month, after Bulgaria (215 euro per month).
