© Marcel Crozet/ ILO
© Marcel Crozet/ ILO
  • Data, Resources

Statistics on labour costs

Table of Contents

Related pages
See also

Introduction

Labour costs are a crucial factor in the ability of enterprises and countries to compete. When specific to the manufacturing sector, labour costs serve as an indicator of competitiveness of manufactured goods in world trade. This is why governments, social partners, researchers and national and international institutions are interested in labour cost information that can be compared between countries and industries.

Data catalogue

Methods

Related pages

Publications

Many publications are available in English only. Click on the + sign for other languages, if available, and additional information. 

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ILOSTAT

  • The leading source of labour statistics
The ILO Department of Statistics is the focal point to the United Nations on labour statistics. We develop international standards for better measurement of labour issues and enhanced international comparability; provide relevant, timely and comparable labour statistics; and help Member States develop and improve their labour statistics.
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Use the search box and filters above the table

Use the search box to enter key words; use quotes around your term for better results. Available filters differ depending on the catalogue. Selecting a frequency allows users to find monthly, quarterly, or annual indicators. While all indicators are available for annual periods, only a subset are available as monthly or quarterly. 

Options to access data

  • Data Explorer

This tool provides an intuitive interface to filter the selection, pivot the table, calculate distributions and growth rates, and export data into various formats.

  • Excel summary

Data available in the Excel summary files are for indicators only (not available for countries or regions) for selected classification items for 2010 onward for annual data and 2018 onward for short-term indicators. For historical data or additional classifications, either use the Data Explorer or download the CSV file. 

  • Country profiles

Available in the country catalogue only, this option takes users to the country profiles page with the selected country pre-filtered in the table. Highlighting the latest year available for key indicators, this is a subset of the available data for a given country.

  • Zipped CSV

Download a zipped CSV file (gzip) to get data in bulk. These files contain only codes. Download the dictionary with labels here. 

There are other options to access data in the data tools section.Â