Changes in negotiated wages
In the first quarter of 2025, hourly wage rates agreed under collective labour agreements (CAO in Dutch) have increased by 5.5 percent. Since the third quarter of 2024, in which the increase was 6.8 percent, the highest in over forty years, collectively agreed wages have decreased. In Q1 of 2025, changes in negotiated wages were 1 percentage point lower than in Q4 of 2024.
Contractual wage costs (negotiated wages and employer contributions) rose by 5.5 percent in the first quarter. This was slightly above the change in negotiated wages. This was mainly because employer contributions for occupational disability (AOF) and unemployment (AWF) have increased, while health insurance contributions have decreased in 2025.
In the first quarter of 2025, growth in negotiated wages in the public sector was the lowest of the three main sectors (at 4.7 percent). In the private sector and semi-public sector, wages rose by 5.6 and 4.9 percent, respectively.
The provisional figure for Q1 of 2025 is based on 95 percent of the data collected on collective labour agreements to compile the statistic. Three-quarters of workers are covered by a collective labour agreement.
In December 2023, CBS started a new series of negotiated wages, using 2020 as the base year.
Negotiated wages, final figures 2024
In 2024, negotiated hourly wages, including special remuneration, increased by 6.5 percent relative to 2023. This increase was the highest since 1982, when negotiated wages rose by 6.6 percent.The largest negotiated wage increase of any sector in 2024 was in real estate activities (12.4 percent).
The smallest wage increase of any sector was in transport and storage, where wages rose by 4.7 percent in 2024.
Figures on StatLine: Cao wages, contractual wage costs and working hours.
