Compensation of employees, employment; quarterly, National Accounts

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Sector/branches (SIC 2008) Compensation of employees Amount Compensation of employees (million euros) Compensation of employees Amount Compensation; seasonal adjusted (million euros) Compensation of employees Amount Wages and salaries (million euros) Compensation of employees Amount Wages; seasonal adjusted (million euros) Compensation of employees Amount Employers' social contributions (million euros) Compensation of employees Amount Social contributions; seasonal adjusted (million euros) Compensation of employees Amount Wage costs (million euros) Compensation of employees Year-on-year change Compensation of employees (%) Compensation of employees Year-on-year change Wages and salaries (%) Compensation of employees Year-on-year change Wage costs (%)
A-U All economic activities 558,589 429,538 129,051 556,520 6.2 6.0 6.3
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing 5,154 4,016 1,138 5,059 8.1 8.1 7.5
B-E Industry (no construction), energy 66,098 50,652 15,446 65,398 5.0 4.8 5.0
C Manufacturing 57,717 44,326 13,391 57,121 4.4 4.1 4.3
F Construction 27,198 20,983 6,215 27,142 9.6 9.0 9.6
G-I Trade, transport, hotels, catering 107,722 83,549 24,173 107,278 4.9 4.6 5.0
J Information and communication 30,510 24,573 5,937 30,256 4.4 4.4 4.4
K Financial institutions 25,772 19,540 6,232 25,847 7.8 7.9 8.0
L Renting, buying, selling real estate 5,537 4,338 1,199 5,534 6.5 5.7 6.5
M-N Business services 98,225 78,583 19,642 97,680 5.7 6.0 5.7
78 Employment activities 26,537 20,635 5,902 26,448 6.0 5.7 5.9
O-Q Government and care 177,359 131,450 45,909 177,357 7.2 6.8 7.2
O Public administration and services 57,510 41,955 15,555 57,719 7.3 6.9 7.2
P Education 40,141 29,820 10,321 40,100 5.3 5.1 5.2
Q Health and social work activities 79,708 59,675 20,033 79,538 8.1 7.6 8.1
R-U Culture, recreation, other services 15,014 11,854 3,160 14,969 8.2 7.8 8.2
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


This table provides annual and quarterly data about the compensation of employees, the wage costs and the labour volume of employees. Compensation of employees is classified in wages and salaries and employers' social contributions. The wage costs are the total of wages, social contributions paid by employers and taxes on wage costs minus wage cost subsidies. The labour volume is given in jobs (by sex), full-time equivalent (fte) and hours worked. The seasonal adjusted time series about the compensation of employees and the wages & salaries are also available in this table. The table additionally provides the compensation of employees, wages and salaries and wage costs related to full-time equivalents and hours worked.

Data available from: 1995 first quarter.

Status of the figures:
Data from 1995 up to and including 2023 are final. Data of 2024 and further are provisional.

Changes as of March 2026:
Figures for the fourth quarter of 2025 as well as a yearly total for 2025 is updated.

Correction as of March 2026:
The annual totals for 2025 related to compensation and labor costs have been adjusted, as they did not match the sum of the quarterly figures.

When will new figures be published?
The preliminary estimate (flash estimate) of a quarter is released after 30 days. The second estimate is published after 85 days. At the second estimate of the fourth quarter, data of the previous three quarters will also be revised.

Description topics

Compensation of employees
Compensation of employees is the total remuneration paid by employers to their employees in return for work done. Compensation of employees is classified in wages and salaries and employers' social contributions.
Amount
Compensation of employees
Compensation of employees is the total remuneration paid by employers to their employees in return for work done. Compensation of employees is classified in wages and salaries and employers' social contributions.
Compensation; seasonal adjusted
Compensation of employees corrected for seasonal effects.
Wages and salaries
Wages and salaries include income taxes and employees' social contributions even if they are actually withheld by the employer and paid directly to tax authorities, social security schemes and pension schemes. Besides wages that are periodically and directly paid to employees, wages and salaries also contain wages in kind and holiday allowances. Furthermore, certain refunds for costs made by the employee are included as well.
Wages; seasonal adjusted
Wages and salaries corrected for seasonal effects.
Employers' social contributions
Employers' social contributions consist of payments to insurers made by employers for the benefit of their employees. They can be classified in employers' social security contributions, employers' private social contributions (of which pension schemes) and the imputed social contributions.
Social contributions; seasonal adjusted
Employers' social contribution corrected for seasonal effects.
Wage costs
The total of wages, social contributions paid by employers and taxes on wage costs minus wage cost subsidies.
Year-on-year change
%-change with respect to the previous year
Compensation of employees
Compensation of employees is the total remuneration paid by employers to their employees in return for work done. Compensation of employees is classified in wages and salaries and employers' social contributions.
Wages and salaries
Wages and salaries include income taxes and employees' social contributions even if they are actually withheld by the employer and paid directly to tax authorities, social security schemes and pension schemes. Besides wages that are periodically and directly paid to employees, wages and salaries also contain wages in kind and holiday allowances. Furthermore, certain refunds for costs made by the employee are included as well.
Wage costs
The total of wages, social contributions paid by employers and taxes on wage costs minus wage cost subsidies.