The Average Hourly Labor Costs Across the European Union is shown in the chart below. The highest hourly wage is in Denmark at €45.80. The lowest hourly wage is in Bulgaria at €6.50. The next two lowest hourly wage countries Hungary and Romania.

As expected the hourly wage in East European countries are much lower than in Western Europe. For example, a factory in Germany may have to pay €36.60 while across the border in Poland it needs to pay just € 11.0. The cost savings are indeed quite high.

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Source: RFE/RL Infographics

In the US, the Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. However most states have their own minimum wage laws. Many US firms especially in the manufacturing industry save substantial labor costs by their production facilities to Mexico where the minimum Federal wage is just 141.70 pesos per day or about $7.08 per day.