The total cost of employing staff rose over 10% in the Netherlands between 2008 and 2012, reaching an average of €32.80 an hour, according to new research by European statistics office Eurostat.

The cost of labour increased more sharply in Slovakia, Finland, Belgium and Austria, Eurostat said. The figure includes wages and social premiums but does not take subsidies into account.

Throughout the EU as a whole, financial sector workers are most expensive while those in catering and hospitality are the cheapest to employ, the Eurostat figures show.