Study · hourly rates
Short answer: a machine hourly rate adds the cost of the machine to the cost of the person running it. The second part varies widely between countries: in 2025, an hour of manufacturing labour costs €49.50 in Germany, €47.10 in France and €17.10 in Poland, against €35.00 on average in the European Union (source: Eurostat).
By the RFQdecoder team · updated 27 September 2026
The machine share depends little on the country: a machine costs roughly the same everywhere in Europe. The operator share is what makes the gap between two shops.
| Country | Manufacturing | Whole economy |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark | €55.00 | €51.70 |
| Austria (provisional) | €51.30 | €46.30 |
| Germany | €49.50 | €45.00 |
| Luxembourg | €48.40 | €56.80 |
| Sweden | €47.20 | €43.10 |
| France | €47.10 | €44.30 |
| European Union | €35.00 | €34.90 |
| Italy | €32.80 | €32.00 |
| Spain | €28.20 | €26.40 |
| Czechia | €20.20 | €19.80 |
| Slovakia | €19.30 | €19.80 |
| Poland | €17.10 | €19.10 |
| Portugal | €16.50 | €19.40 |
| Hungary | €15.60 | €15.20 |
| Romania | €12.00 | €13.60 |
| Bulgaria | €10.20 | €12.00 |
| Netherlands | confidential | €47.90 |
Source: Eurostat, in euros per hour, wages and employer contributions included. The average hourly cost rose 4.1% in the EU in a year; non-wage costs make up 24.8% of it, and 32.3% in France (Eurostat).
| Station | Published hourly rate |
|---|---|
| Fibre laser, fully burdened | €90 to €160 |
| Press brake, fully burdened | €60 to €95 |
| Welder hour, fully burdened | €45 to €80 |
| Machine time in CNC turning | $65 to $120 |
Sources: QuoteBuddy for the first three rows, Hotean for the last.
An hour of manufacturing labour costs nearly 2.9 times more in Germany than in Poland, and 1.35 times the EU average in France. On a part where the operator weighs heavily (assembly, manual welding, deburring), this gap flows almost entirely into the price. On an automatic machine running alone, it weighs much less.
Eurostat gives €49.50 per hour in 2025 in German manufacturing, wages and employer contributions included, against €35.00 on average in the European Union.
In manufacturing in 2025, Eurostat gives €10.20 in Bulgaria and €12.00 in Romania; across the whole economy, €12.00 in Bulgaria.
QuoteBuddy publishes €90 to €160 an hour for a fibre laser and €60 to €95 for a press brake, fully burdened 2026 costs; Hotean gives $65 to $120 an hour of machine time in CNC turning.
Divide the machine’s annual costs (depreciation, energy, maintenance, floor space, tooling) by its productive hours, then add the operator’s hourly cost and overheads.
Yes: according to Eurostat, hourly labour costs rose 4.1% in the EU between 2024 and 2025, from €33.50 to €34.90 across the whole economy.
Upload a PDF, DXF or STEP drawing: every operation priced with its hourly rate, country and assumptions shown.