According to the report from the EU statistics office, hourly labour costs ranged from €4.1 to €41.3 across member states in 2015.
The lowest rate was in Bulgaria and Romania, while the highest was in Denmark and Belgium, says, Eurostat.
In 2015, average hourly labour costs in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration) were estimated to be €25 in the EU €29.5 in the eurozone area.
However, this average masks significant gaps between member states, with the lowest hourly labour costs recorded in Bulgaria (€4.1), Romania (€5.0), Lithuania (€6.8), Latvia (€7.1) and Hungary (€7.5), and the highest in Denmark (€41.3), Belgium (€39.1), Sweden (€37.4), Luxembourg (€36.2) and France (€35.1).
In industry, labour costs per hour were €25.9 in the EU and €32.3 in the eurozone area, in services €24.9 and €28.6 respectively and in construction €22.4 and €25.8.
In the mainly non-business economy (excluding public administration), labour costs per hour were €25.1 in the EU and €29.4 in the euro area in 2015.
Labour costs are made up of wages and salaries and non-wage costs such as employers' social contributions.
The share of non-wage costs in the whole economy was 24 per cent in the EU and 26 per cent in the euro area, ranging from 6.6 per cent in Malta to 33.2 per cent in France.
In the UK, labour costs rose sharply by 15.2 per cent last year (from €22.3 to €25.7 per hour).
For member states outside the euro area in 2015, and expressed in national currency, the largest increases in hourly labour costs in the whole economy between 2014 and 2015 were registered in Romania (+8.3 per cent) and Bulgaria (+7.0 per cent), and the smallest in Denmark and Croatia (both +1.7 per cent).
The estimates for 2015 come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU.
The data covers enterprises with 10 or more employees and are based on the Labour Cost Survey data for 2012.