Statistics Portugal – Web Portal

Summary

In the 4th quarter of 2022, the Labour Cost Index (LCI) recorded a year-on-year increase of 1.4%. In the previous quarter, it had increased 4.3%.

The wage costs (per hour actually worked) increased by 1.4%, and the other labour costs (also per hour actually worked) increased by 1.3%, compared with the same period of the previous year.

The year-on-year change of the LCI resulted from the increase of 4.7% in the average cost per employee and the growth of 3.4% in the number of hours actually worked per employee. The increase of the first component was common to all the economic activities, with the highest variations being recorded in activities of sections B to N (5.0% in Industry, 4.7% in Construction and 5.9% in Services). The Public Administration recorded a lower increase, of 3.3%. The hours actually worked per employee also increased in all economic activities, with the lowest variation being recorded in Construction (1.9%) and the highest in the Public Administration (5.6%). The LCI increased in all economic activities, having decreased only in the Public Administration (2.0%).

In 2022, the LCI increased by 3.2%, corresponding to increases of 3.0% in the wage costs and of 4.0% in the other labour costs. The increase in non-wage costs was due to the increase in employers’ contributions as a result of the progressive reduction of enterprises that joined the simplified layoff regime in the private sector of the economy. The average cost per employee increased by 4.3% and the number of hours actually worked per employee increased by 1.3%.