UK Productivity Lags Behind Rest of G7

The U.K. was much less productive than the rest of the G7 in 2014, lagging by the most since 1991, official figures have shown.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said output per hour was 20 percentage points below the G7 average.

The U.K. was behind the US, Germany and France by a large margin and was slightly worse than Italy and Canada.

Productivity is seen as key to helping increase living standards in the U.K. by many experts.

“These figures show U.K. productivity continues to lag behind other developed economies,” ONS chief economist Joe Grice said.

“Since the economic downturn, productivity growth has slowed in most developed economies, but by more in the U.K. than the average.”

The Chancellor, George Osborne, pledged in July to take steps to encourage more long-term investment in infrastructure and by businesses to boost productivity.

BBC

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Former Craig

Former Craig

Former Senior Market Analyst, UK & EMEA at OANDA
Based in London, Craig Erlam joined OANDA in 2015 as a market analyst. With many years of experience as a financial market analyst and trader, he focuses on both fundamental and technical analysis while producing macroeconomic commentary. His views have been published in the Financial Times, Reuters, The Telegraph and the International Business Times, and he also appears as a regular guest commentator on the BBC, Bloomberg TV, FOX Business and SKY News. Craig holds a full membership to the Society of Technical Analysts and is recognised as a Certified Financial Technician by the International Federation of Technical Analysts.