This file contains country-specific information for data products associated with 

“International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing” at 

www.bls.gov/ilc. The scope of coverage and definitions explained in the Technical Notes at 

www.bls.gov/ilc/ichcctn.pdf apply generally to all countries in the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

(BLS) series. In this document, each country note consists of two parts: when applicable, the first 

part lists differences from the general coverage and definitions included in the Technical Notes

(summarized below); the second part lists the major data sources used to create the estimates. 

In general:

• Compensation costs exclude employer expenditures on recruitment, vocational training, 

and maintenance of company-provided facilities.

• Pay for sick leave is included in employers’ social insurance expenditures (and not as part 

of directly-paid benefits).

• Full-time and part-time workers are included.

• The self-employed, unpaid family workers, contract workers, and workers in private 

households are excluded. 

• Earnings and compensation data relate to firms with a minimum of ten employees. 

• Data relate to the entire country.

• Data relate to an average for the calendar year.

• Data are comparable to the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Rev. 4.

ARGENTINA. Direct pay includes pay for sick leave. Total compensation costs exclude private 

and contractual social insurance expenditures (include legally required social costs only). Data 

refer to the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Rev. 3.1. 

Data Sources. National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC): Encuesta Industrial 

Anual (Annual Industrial Survey), Encuesta Industrial Mensual (Monthly Industrial 

Survey). 

AUSTRALIA. Data cover establishments with 1 or more employee.

Data Sources. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Survey of Average Weekly 

Earnings, Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, Survey of Labor Costs, Economic 

Activity Survey, Annual Manufacturing Industry Collection Survey. 

Country Notes and Data Sources

International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs 

in Manufacturing

International Labor Comparisons August 2013

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AUSTRIA. Earnings data cover establishments with 1 or more employee. 

Data Sources. Statistics Austria (ÖSTAT): Konjunkturerhebung (Business Cycle Survey). 

Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

BELGIUM. Earnings data refer to October only. Pay for time worked includes some family and 

other social allowances paid regularly.

Data Sources. SPF Economie, PME, Classes moyennes et Energie: Enquête sur la 

structure et la répartition des salaries (Structure of Earnings Survey). Service public 

fédéral Emploi, Travail et Concertation sociale: L’indice des salaires conventionnels 

(Index of Collective Bargaining Salaries). Institut National de Statistique (NIS): Enquête 

semestrielle sur les gains horaires bruts des ouvriers dans l'industrie (Biannual survey on 

the hourly earnings of workers in industry). Federation des Entreprises de Belgique: Les 

Charges Sociales. Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

BRAZIL. Data cover establishments with 1 or more employee. Hours worked data refer to select

urban areas only and include unpaid family workers. Direct pay includes pay for sick leave not 

linked to social security. 

Data Sources. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE): Pesquisa Industrial 

Anual – Empresa (Annual Industrial Survey – Establishment), Pesquisa Industrial Mensal 

do Emprego e Salário (Monthly Industrial Survey of Employment and Wages). 

Departamento Intersindical de Estatística e Estudos Socioeconômicos (DIEESE): 

Pesquisa de Emprego e Desemprego (Survey of Employment and Unemployment).

CANADA. Earnings data cover establishments with 1 or more employee. Pay for time worked 

includes some irregular bonuses. 

Data Sources. Statistics Canada: Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, Estimate of 

Labor Income, Wages and Working Conditions in Canada, Employer Labor Costs in 

Canada.

CZECH REPUBLIC. Data cover establishments with 1 or more employee. 

Data Sources. Czech Statistical Office: Labor Cost Survey, Registered Number of 

Employees and Their Wages, Labour Force Sample Survey. 

DENMARK. Data cover establishments with 2 or more employees.

Data Sources. Danish Employers' Confederation: Annual Survey of Earnings, Survey of 

Other Labor Costs. Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

ESTONIA. Data cover establishments with 1 or more employee.

Data Sources. Statistics Estonia: Survey of Wages and Salaries, Eurostat: Labor Cost 

Survey. 

FINLAND. Earnings data cover establishments with 1 or more employee. Data for Finland refer to 

each firm’s accounting year. However, the most common accounting year among firms coincides 

with the calendar year.

Data Sources. Statistics Finland: Regional and Industrial Statistics on Manufacturing, 

Index of Wage and Salary Earnings. Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey.

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FRANCE. Earnings data cover establishments with 1 or more employee.

Data Sources. Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE): 

Déclaration Annuelle des Données Sociales (Annual Survey of Social Data). Ministere du 

Travail et des Affaires Sociales: Enquête sur l'activité et les conditions d'emploi de la 

main-d'œuvre (ACEMO) (Survey on the Economic Activity and Working Conditions of 

the Labor Force). Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

GERMANY. Part-time workers are excluded.

Data Sources. Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis, Federal Statistical Office): 

Vierteljährliche Verdiensterhebung (Quarterly Earnings Survey), Volkswirtschaftliche 

Gesamtrechnungen der Länder (National Accounts). Institut für Arbeitsmarktund 

Berufsforschung (IAB, Institute for Employment Research): Working Time and the 

Volume of Work in Germany. Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

GREECE. 

Data Sources. Hellenic Statistical Authority: Βραχυχρόνιες Στατιστικές (Short Term 

Statistics). Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey.

HUNGARY. Part-time workers are excluded. Earnings data cover establishments with 5 or more 

employees.

Data Sources. Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO): Foglalkoztatottság és 

kereseti arányok (Employment and Earnings Survey), A munkaerőköltség alakulása 

(Labor Cost Survey). Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey.

IRELAND. Earnings data cover establishments with 3 or more employees.

Data Sources. Central Statistical Office (CSO): Earnings, Hours, and Employment Costs 

Survey; Quarterly Industrial Inquiry of Employment, Earnings, and Hours Worked. 

Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

ISRAEL. Data cover establishments with 20 or more employees. 

Data Sources. Central Bureau of Statistics: Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, Statistical 

Abstract of Israel.

ITALY.

Data Sources. Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (Istat): Indagine sulle retribuzioni e orari 

contrattuali (Survey of Contractual Remunerations and Working Hours). Eurostat: Labor 

Cost Survey.

JAPAN. Earnings data cover establishments with 5 or more employees; other compensation data 

cover establishments with 30 or more employees. Direct pay includes pay for sick leave. The 

value of payment in kind includes employer expenditures for maintenance of company-provided 

facilities. Data refer to the Japanese Standard Industrial Classification (JSIC). 

Data Sources. Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare: 毎月勤労統計調査 (Monthly 

Labor Survey), 就労条件総合調査 (General Survey on Working Conditions). 

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KOREA, REPUBLIC OF. 

Data Sources. Ministry of Labor: Monthly Labor Survey / Survey on Wages and

Working Hours at Establishments, Labor Cost of Enterprise Survey, Labor Force Survey 

at Establishments. 

MEXICO. Data cover establishments with 15 or more employees. Employers’ social insurance 

expenditures include some payments in kind.

Data Sources. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI): Encuesta Industrial 

Mensual (Monthly Industrial Survey), Encuesta Mensual de la Industria Manufacturera 

(Monthly Survey of the Manufacturing Industry). 

NETHERLANDS. 

Data Sources. Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS): Labor Cost Survey, Prijs van arbeid 

indexcijfers (Labor Price Index). Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

NEW ZEALAND. Earnings data cover establishments with 1 or more employee. Sick leave and 

some seasonal and irregular bonuses are excluded.

Data Sources. Statistics New Zealand: Quarterly Employment Survey, Labor Cost Index. 

NORWAY. Earnings data cover establishments with 5 or more employees. 

Data Sources. Statistics Norway: Lønnsstatistikk. Ansatte i industri (Wage 

Statistics/Employees in Manufacturing Survey), Arbeidskraftundersøkelsene (Labor 

Force Survey). Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

PHILIPPINES. Data cover establishments with 20 or more employees. Direct pay includes pay for 

sick leave not linked to social security. Data refer to the Philippine Standard Industrial 

Classification (PSIC). 

Data Sources. National Statistics Office: Annual Survey of Philippine Business and 

Industry, Labor Force Survey. National Statistics Coordination Board: Quarterly Survey 

of Philippine Business and Industry. Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics: Labor 

Cost Survey. 

POLAND. The value of payment in kind includes employer expenditures for maintenance of 

company-provided facilities.

Data Sources. Central Statistical Office (CSO): Outlays and Results in Industry, 

Statistical Yearbook of Poland, Statistical Bulletin, Labor Cost Survey. 

PORTUGAL. Part-time workers are excluded. Earnings data cover establishments with 1 or more 

employee. 

Data Sources. Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Bureau of Strategy and Planning: 

Inquérito aos Ganhos e Duração de Trabalho (Survey of Earnings and Working Time), 

Quadros de Pessoal (Administrative Personnel Tables). Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

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SINGAPORE. Earnings data refer to June only and cover establishments with 25 or more 

employees. Part-time workers are excluded. Pay for time worked includes direct allowances for 

food, housing, and transportation. Direct pay excludes pay in kind. Total compensation costs 

include employer expenditures on recruitment. Data refer to the Singapore Standard Industrial 

Classification (SSIC).

Data Sources. Central Provident Fund Board: Occupational Wage Survey. Ministry of 

Manpower (MOM): Labor Market Survey, Labor Cost Survey, Conditions of 

Employment Survey. 

SLOVAKIA. Earnings data cover establishments with 20 or more employees. 

Data Sources. Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (SOSR): annual survey of 

establishments, Total Labor Costs Survey.

SPAIN. Earnings data cover establishments with 1 or more employee. 

Data Sources. Instituto Nacional de Estadistica: Encuesta Trimestral de Coste Laboral 

(Quarterly Labor Cost Survey), Encuesta Anual de Coste Laboral (Annual Labor Cost 

survey), Encuesta de Salarios en la Industria y los Servicios (Survey of Wages in Industry 

and Services). Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey.

SWEDEN. Earnings data cover establishments with 5 or more employees. 

Data Sources. Statistiska Centralbyrån (Statistics Sweden, SCB): Konjunkturstatistik, 

löner för privat sektor (Wages and Salaries in the Private Sector, KLP), National 

Accounts. Svenskt Näringsliv (Confederation of Swedish Enterprise): Fakta om Löner 

och Arbetstider (Facts on Wages and Working Hours). Eurostat: Labor Cost Survey. 

SWITZERLAND. Pay for time worked includes pay in kind. 

Data Sources. Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS): Coûts de la main-d’œuvre (Labor 

Costs), L’enquête suisse sur la structure des salaries (Swiss Earnings Structure Survey), 

Indice suisse des salaries (Index of the Evolution of Wages/Swiss Wage Index), 

Statistique du volume du travail (Work Volume Statistics).

TAIWAN. Earnings data cover establishments with 1 or more employee. Data refer to the 

Standard Industrial Classification of the Republic of China. 

Data Sources. Directorate General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics (DGBAS): 受雇

員工薪資調 (Employees’ Earnings Survey), 受雇員工動向調 (Employee Movement 

Survey). 

UNITED KINGDOM. Earnings data cover all registered jobs. 

Data Sources. Office for National Statistics (ONS): Annual Survey of Hours and 

Earnings, New Earnings Survey, Monthly Wages and Salary Survey. Eurostat: Labor 

Cost Survey. 

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UNITED STATES. Data cover establishments with 1 or more employee. Pay in kind is excluded. 

Results differ somewhat from other BLS series on compensation costs. 

Data Sources. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Current Employment Statistics, National 

Compensation Survey, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation. Census Bureau: 

Annual Survey of Manufactures. 

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, International Labor Comparisons, August 2013

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