The Anatomy of UK Labour Productivity: Lessons from New and Existing Data Sources

an article by Philip Wales (Office for National Statistics, UK) published in National Institute Economic Review Volume 247 Issue 1 (February 2019)

Abstract

The UK's recent productivity performance has been strikingly weak. Output per hour worked, which increased by around 2.1 per cent per year in the decade leading up to the economic downturn, increased by just 0.2 per cent per year in the ten years following the global financial crisis.

This paper presents three ‘stylised facts’ on the UK's recent productivity performance through the lens of official statistics:

• the weakness of recent productivity growth;
• the ‘gap’ in productivity terms between the UK and other leading economies; and
• the large differences in productivity between businesses.

It surveys recent work by ONS to help researchers and policy-makers to understand the UK's productivity performance, including new experimental and official statistics, analysis and research.

It concludes by drawing together the key findings of these new statistics, highlighting how further improvements might be made through the greater use of survey and administrative data.

JEL Classification: J24, E24, D24

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