The cost of labor in Bulgaria is by far the lowest among the European Union's 27 member states, according to data by the German Federal Statistical Office released Tuesday.

At EUR 3.7 per hr worked in 2012, labor cost Bulgaria is more than 6 times lower than the EU's EUR 23.5 average, and more than 7.5 times lower than the eurozone EUR 28.2 average.

The list is topped by Sweden at EUR 41.90, Belgium at EUR 40.4, and Denmark at EUR 39.5 per hr worked, with labor costs in the remaining top 5 member states - France and Luxembourg - also close to 10 times higher than that in Bulgaria.

Germany ranks 8th, with labor costs at EUR 31 per hr, marking a 2.8% growth for 2012, writes the Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis).

At 6.4%, growth of labor costs in Bulgaria and Estonia is highest, according to the data revealed.

However, work in Estonia is rated at EUR 8.6 per hr, and labor in Bulgaria is still twice cheaper than in member states that follow Estonia, Hungary, ranked 22nd at EUR 7.9, and Poland, ranked 23rd at EUR 7.4.

Bulgaria's data for the manufacturing sector parallel overall data, with Bulgaria last at EUR 2.9 per hour.

Romania is second-to-last and has overall labor costs of EUR 4.5 and EUR 3.8 for manufacturing.

Greece is the only country to have recorded a negative growth of labor costs last year, with a drastic 6.8% decrease.

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