Labour Costs in Poland

Labour Costs

One of the most important parameters that measures the attractiveness of an investment in a given country or region, are its labour costs. Labour costs in the EU increase by approximately 2-3% annually; but are growing much more rapidly among the new EU members, particularly of those in which a high economic growth rate is noted. In Lithuania these have increased in the course of last year by 19%, in Estonia and in Latvia by 15% and 13% respectively and in Poland by app. 4%. However, the differences between countries remain large. In the wealthiest countries of the old EU, an hour’s labour costs 25 to 30 EUR on average, in Poland it’s less than 5 EUR.

Poland’s employment costs are among the lowest in all of Europe. The country’s wage costs are not only less than those of western Europe, but also lower than those of Slovenia, Estonia, Slovakia, the Czech Rep., Hungary and Latvia. Lower employment costs in national average incomes can only be found in Ireland, Greece and in Italy. When compared to Central and Eastern Europe, lower employment costs are only to be found in Rumania. Lithuania and Bulgaria have similar wage levels to Poland. Poland is among the lowest quarter of a list of 24 European countries.

The most attractive cities in terms of labour costs
(point of reference, the average number of nominations for first, second and third places)

Source: European Cities Monitor 2005, Cushman & Wakefield;
the bracketed statistics are from the European Cities Monitor 2004, C&W

Unemployment and effectiveness

The average gross monthly salary in the national economy, over the period of the first three quarters of 2007, was at a level of 2,685.71 PLN, which is 8.6% higher than in the analogous period the year before. In the public sector it was 2,964.71 PLN (an increase on the analogous period of 7.7%) and in the private sector 2,527.16 PLN (an increase of 9.6%).

According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), Poland’s workers produced an average of 12.2% more in January 2007, than in the previous year. By comparison in January 2006, the output in production had risen by 9.6% and in 2005 by 2.9%.

Source PAIZ, www.paiz.gov.pl