Both wages and other costs, including various social contributions, were down 3.8%. In the same period last year, other costs were down by 4%, while wages decreased by 1.6% year-on-year.

In the real sector labour costs were down by 1.8% in the first quarter of 2013 (wages by 2% and other costs by 0.5%), while in the public sector labour costs decreased by 8.4%, by far the most in the EU.