Database Specific
Database Specific Abstract AbstractProductivity is considered a central driver of long-term economic growth and living standards.
Source Source Contact person/organisation Contact person/organisationproductivity.contact@oecd.org
The OECD Compendium of Productivity Indicators provides a comprehensive overview of recent and longer term trends in productivity levels and growth in OECD and selected non-OECD countries.
The most recent edition of the Compendium, as well as information on the methodologies used in the OECD Productivity Database, are available on the OECD productivity internet page:
Data source(s) used Data source(s) usedThe indicators presented in this dataset are mainly based on GDP, population and employment statistics from the OECD Annual National Accounts.
Hours worked are sourced from the OECD Annual National Accounts, the OECD Employment Outlook and national sources.
For Austria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom, average actual hours worked data calculated in country’s national accounts are replaced with estimates produced at the OECD using the OECD simplified component method, which relies on the EU-LFS and complementary sources. This reflects conclusions from the OECD Statistics Working Paper International Productivity Gaps: Are Labour Input Measures Comparable?, which shows that the use of a direct method for the estimation of average hours worked creates systematic upwards bias, weighing down on productivity levels – please refer to the paper itself for a more detailed account. It is important to stress that the use of the simplified component method by the OECD for this group of countries is intended to be only a stop-gap until such a time that these countries will be able to align their estimates with the national accounts framework and correct for self-reporting bias, with many countries already moving in this direction.
While the paper clearly highlights the current bias in international comparisons of productivity levels, it does not follow that the same holds for international comparisons of productivity growth rates. The time series takes average hours actually worked levels using the simplified component method in 2016 as a benchmark, and projects this series forwards and backwards using official (national) productivity growth rates . In this way, by definition, labour productivity growth rates are not affected and, as such, there is no difference between national and OECD growth rate series.
This change was implemented in January 2019 and affects several series:
Hours worked for total employment; millions
Average hours worked per person employed
GDP per hour worked
Labour utilisation (hours worked per head of population)
Gap in labour utilisation with respect to the USA
Gap in GDP per hour worked with respect to the USA
Note: This approach is not integrated in the European aggregates available in this database, i.e. Euro area (19 countries) and European Union (28 countries), as these data are provided directly by Eurostat. However, aggregates for the OECD and the G7 integrate this change.
Data Characteristics Data Characteristics Date last updated Date last updatedLast updated: December 2022.
The OECD Productivity Database aims at providing users with the most comprehensive and the latest productivity estimates.
The update cycle is on a rolling basis, i.e. each variable in the dataset is made publicly available as soon as it is updated in the sources databases. However, timely data issues may arise and affect individual series and/or countries. In particular, annual hours worked estimates from the OECD Employment Outlook are typically updated less frequently (once a year, in the summer) than series of hours worked from the OECD Annual National Accounts.
The current version of the OECD Productivity Database accounts for the new changes which have recently occurred in the OECD National Accounts. For further details on methodological changes in OECD Annual National Accounts, go to the following link.
Population & Scope Population & Scope Geographic coverage Geographic coverage* OECD 38 countries;
* BRIICS, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Peru;
* Geographical / economic zones.
Sector coverage Sector coverageTotal economy.
Concepts & Classifications Concepts & Classifications Key statistical concept Key statistical conceptFor further methodological information, please consult:
Productivity is considered a central driver of long-term economic growth and living standards.
productivity.contact@oecd.org
The OECD Compendium of Productivity Indicators provides a comprehensive overview of recent and longer term trends in productivity levels and growth in OECD and selected non-OECD countries.
The most recent edition of the Compendium, as well as information on the methodologies used in the OECD Productivity Database, are available on the OECD productivity internet page:
The indicators presented in this dataset are mainly based on GDP, population and employment statistics from the OECD Annual National Accounts.
Hours worked are sourced from the OECD Annual National Accounts, the OECD Employment Outlook and national sources.
For Austria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom, average actual hours worked data calculated in country’s national accounts are replaced with estimates produced at the OECD using the OECD simplified component method, which relies on the EU-LFS and complementary sources. This reflects conclusions from the OECD Statistics Working Paper International Productivity Gaps: Are Labour Input Measures Comparable?, which shows that the use of a direct method for the estimation of average hours worked creates systematic upwards bias, weighing down on productivity levels – please refer to the paper itself for a more detailed account. It is important to stress that the use of the simplified component method by the OECD for this group of countries is intended to be only a stop-gap until such a time that these countries will be able to align their estimates with the national accounts framework and correct for self-reporting bias, with many countries already moving in this direction.
While the paper clearly highlights the current bias in international comparisons of productivity levels, it does not follow that the same holds for international comparisons of productivity growth rates. The time series takes average hours actually worked levels using the simplified component method in 2016 as a benchmark, and projects this series forwards and backwards using official (national) productivity growth rates . In this way, by definition, labour productivity growth rates are not affected and, as such, there is no difference between national and OECD growth rate series.
This change was implemented in January 2019 and affects several series:
Hours worked for total employment; millions
Average hours worked per person employed
GDP per hour worked
Labour utilisation (hours worked per head of population)
Gap in labour utilisation with respect to the USA
Gap in GDP per hour worked with respect to the USA
Note: This approach is not integrated in the European aggregates available in this database, i.e. Euro area (19 countries) and European Union (28 countries), as these data are provided directly by Eurostat. However, aggregates for the OECD and the G7 integrate this change.
Last updated: December 2022.
The OECD Productivity Database aims at providing users with the most comprehensive and the latest productivity estimates.
The update cycle is on a rolling basis, i.e. each variable in the dataset is made publicly available as soon as it is updated in the sources databases. However, timely data issues may arise and affect individual series and/or countries. In particular, annual hours worked estimates from the OECD Employment Outlook are typically updated less frequently (once a year, in the summer) than series of hours worked from the OECD Annual National Accounts.
The current version of the OECD Productivity Database accounts for the new changes which have recently occurred in the OECD National Accounts. For further details on methodological changes in OECD Annual National Accounts, go to the following link.
* OECD 38 countries;
* BRIICS, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Peru;
* Geographical / economic zones.
Total economy.
For further methodological information, please consult: