UK productivity slows compared to rivals

The productivity of UK workers is lagging behind most of the world’s wealthiest nations, official figures revealed yesterday.

Gross domestic product (GDP) per worker in the UK – a broad measure for the value of goods per person in the country – fell relative to all G7 countries except Italy and Germany last year.

Overall, UK GDP per worker was only higher than Japan’s measure in 2010, the Office for National Statistics said, while the productivity gap between the UK and US, the G7 leader, in 2010 was the widest since 1994.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said low research and development spending, diverting resources to the less-productive public sector and education inefficiencies in the UK have hit productivity.

He said: “It is to be hoped that the necessary increased focus on the private sector to lead the economy forward will lead to improvements in productivity.”