Across the eurozone, the average hourly cost of labour was €28.40 in 2013.
In Portugal, however, that figure stood at €11.60. The hourly wage dropped -5.1% from 2008 when it was €12.20.
The highest salaries in Portugal were paid in the services sector (€12.60), followed by the business sector (€11.50). Salaries for industry and construction were both just over €10.
The only other country in the eurozone where the wage has dropped over the last five years is Greece where salaries plummeted -18.6% down to €13.60.
Portugal has the third lowest salaries in the eurozone. Only Estonia (€9.00) and Slovakia (€8.50) are lower.
The figure includes wages and items such as employers’ social contributions and is based on enterprises with 10 or more employees. Agriculture and public administration work are excluded.
According to Eurostat, the lowest hourly costs were in Bulgaria (€3.70) and Romania (€4.70) while the highest were recorded in Sweden (€40.10), Denmark (€38.40), Belgium (€38), and France (€34.30).
In suffering Spain with its gargantuan unemployment level, salaries have continued to rise over the last five years, going from €19.40 in 2008 to €21.10 – a rise of nearly 9%. Salaries in Spain are even higher than those in the UK.
In Italy, where things have not been rosy for some time, salaries rose by more than 11% to reach €28.10. Salaries there are nearly on par with Germany (€31.30), a growth of just over 12% during the period.
Surprisingly perhaps salaries in the UK were €20.90 (£17.70) in 2013, having remained nearly stable between 2008 and 2013.
