Hourly labour costs in the financial and insurance activities sector were at least twice as high as the national average for the total economy in 2012 in Cyprus (+106%), as well as in Portugal (+167%), Romania (+136%), Latvia (+113%) and Hungary (+110%).

In all EU states hourly labor costs were at least 50% above the national average, with the exemption of Finland (+34%), Ireland (+43%), Croatia (+45%) and Slovenia (+48%).

According to Eurostat, in 2012 average hourly labour costs in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration) stood at 24,2 euros in the EU28 and 29,3 euros in the euro area. Read the full story Labour costs double in the financial and insurance sector in CYPRUS