Labour productivity statistics: 2024

Longer term trends

As productivity is a structural feature of the economy, many users focus on long-term trends instead of short term movements which can be impacted by volatility in the output and labour input data. This is particularly relevant to recent results which are impacted by higher levels of uncertainty in labour market data.

Looking over the longer term, output per hour worked has grown by an average of 0.8% per year since the 2008 financial crisis and onset of recession. In the decade prior to the recession, from 1998 to 2008, output per hour worked increased by 1.4% per year on average.

Figure 3: Productivity growth varies a lot from year to year, but the average annual growth rate has been lower since the 2008 financial crisis than in the decade before

Annual change and average levels of growth (percentage change per year)

UK and international comparisons

Many countries have seen a similar slowdown in productivity growth since the global financial crisis. In the decade leading up to 2008, Scotland’s average annual productivity growth rate was 1.4%, compared to 1.8% for the UK as a whole and 1.6% for the EU27.

Between 2008 and 2024, Scotland’s average annual growth rate for labour productivity has slowed to 0.8% per year. This compares to an average annual growth of 0.4% for the UK as a whole, and 0.8% per year for the EU as a whole.

Table 1: Average annual growth rates (percentage change per year)