The data shows that in 2017 labour costs, excluding agriculture and public administration, averaged €26.80 an hour in the EU as a whole and €30.30 in the euro zone. The range of costs between different member states was very large, however, from €4.90 in Bulgaria to €42.50 in Denmark.

Portugal, despite its hourly labour costs rising 3% last year from €13.70 in 2016 - a rate of increase faster than both the EU average of 2.3% and the euro-zone average of 1.9% - remains in the lower half of the table.

Of the 11 EU member states with lower hourly costs - Malta (€13.80), Estonia (€11.70), Czech Republic (€11.30), Slovakia (€11.10), Croatia (€10.60), Poland (€9.40), Hungary (€9.10), Latvia (€8.10), Lithuania (€8), Romania (€6.30) and Bulgaria - just five are euro-zone members.

The countries with the highest labour costs, after Denmark, are Belgium (€39.60), Luxembourg (€37.60), Sweden (€36.60) and France (€36).