Labour Costs and Productivity
Labour Costs
Competitive costs and high productivity are some of the characteristics of the Danish labour force.
Denmark has competitive labour costs levels
When both wages and non-wages are considered Denmark offers competitive labour costs.
| Table X: Labour costs in manufacturing 1996 | ||||
|
Total hourly com-pensation costsindex (USA=100) |
Total hourly compensation costs in USD |
Wages as a percentage of total costs |
1Non-wages as a percentage of total costs |
|
| Belgium |
146 |
25.89 |
52.7 |
47.4 |
| Denmark |
137 |
24.24 |
82.1 |
17.9 |
| France |
120 |
21.19 |
49.6 |
50.4 |
| Germany |
180 |
31.87 |
55.1 |
44.9 |
| Holland |
131 |
23.14 |
58.0 |
42.0 |
| Ireland2 |
78 |
13.85 |
76.0 |
24.0 |
| Sweden |
139 |
24.56 |
59.2 |
40.8 |
| United Kingdom |
80 |
14.13 |
75.2 |
24.8 |
| European Union |
125 |
22.06 |
NA |
NA |
|
Source: US Department of Labor 1998. |
||||
1Includes holiday payment social security labour taxes and cost of absenteeism.
In Denmark total labour costs - wages and non-wages - are 20-30% less than in Germany. This is due to the employers' exceptionally low cost burden in terms of legally required insurance programs and contractual and private benefit plans.
The average annual changes in labour costs are expected to remain at a low level in the next years.
The labour productivity is among the highest in Europe
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Cost Efficiency
Competitive labour costs and high productivity levels combine to make Denmark's work force one of the most cost-efficient in Europe. This is further supported by the attitude of the Danish work force which emphasizes factors such as company loyalty motivation self reliance and creativeness.
| Table x.: Industrial relations, world ranking. | |
|
Sweden |
3 |
|
Denmark |
5 |
|
Netherlands |
9 |
|
Ireland |
11 |
|
United Kingdom |
12 |
|
Germany |
14 |
|
Belgium |
27 |
|
France |
40 |
|
Source: IMD, 1997. Measured on the degree to which relations between managers and employees and their representatives can be characterized as productive. |
|
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Labour Productivity
With GDP per employee per hour at USD 39.16 Denmark has one of the most productive labour forces in Europe; and productivity continues to increase at a rate above the European average.
|
Table X.: Labour productivity |
|||
| 1GDP per employee per hour in USD in 1996 | 2Output - manufacturing avg. annual 1990-94 | 2Output per hour - manufacturing avg. annual 1990-94 | |
|
Belgium |
42.92 |
NA |
NA |
|
Denmark |
39.16 |
1.5 |
3.2 |
|
France |
40.38 |
-0.5 |
2.8 |
|
Germany |
39.44 |
-1.0 |
2.8 |
|
Holland |
33.49 |
0.3 |
2.6 |
|
Ireland |
28.56 |
NA |
NA |
|
Sweden |
28.03 |
0.4 |
4.2 |
|
United Kingdom |
22.65 |
-0.2 |
4.3 |
|
Sources: 1International institute for Management Development 1997. 2US Department of Labor 1995 |
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Sources: US Department of Labor, http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/prod4.toc.htm.
IMD "World Competitiveness Yearbook", 1997.
Mrs. Connie Lindgreen
Vice President
IBM Global e-commerce Solutions
© 1996 by Invest in Denmark