New estimates for 2008 show that the UK’s productivity level on a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per worker basis was above that of Japan, similar to that of Canada and Germany, and lower than that of Italy, France and the US.
On a GDP per hour worked basis, which takes account of the different working patterns across countries, the UK is above Japan and Italy, on a par with Canada and below France, Germany and the US.
The data continue to show that the UK has experienced faster productivity growth than all other G7 countries since 1991, as measured by GDP per worker. The figures show that by 2007 UK GDP per worker had grown by 39 per cent since 1991, compared with the G7 average (excluding the UK) of 29 per cent.
In terms of GDP per hour worked, UK productivity increased by 49 per cent between 1991 and 2007. This represents the fastest rate of growth of any G7 country over the period, well above the average (excluding the UK) of 36 per cent.
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Notes: Data sources for this release are as follows: GDP from the OECD Main Economic Indicators, September 2009; PPP estimates from the OECD PPP website; employment from the OECD Annual Labour Force Statistics, September 2009; average hours worked from OECD Employment Outlook, July 2009.
Due to a break in the series currently available from the OECD, UK employment and hours data have been derived directly from the latest Labour Force Survey data, following the OECD method of compilation. These have not yet been submitted to OECD.
The 2008 productivity estimate for France may not be entirely consistent with figures for the other G7 countries, due to a delay in the provision of French employment data to the OECD. The use of an estimate provided by Eurostat in this release leaves employment and therefore productivity figures liable to future revision.
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International Comparisons of Productivity (ICP) Press Release