Facts and Observations on Labour Productivity in Western Europe, North America and Japan

1. Post-war rates of productivity growth in Western Europe and Japan have everywhere been above their long-term trend. In several countries growth has been faster than nearly all recorded historical experience. This is true of Japan, Germany, Austria, Italy, France and the Netherlands, where output per man increased at 6.7 per cent, 5.2 per cent, 5 per cent, 4.3 per cent, 3.9 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively in the 1950s. Even in the U.K., Denmark and Belgium, where growth was much slower, the growth rates of 2 to 2.5 per cent were much better than they had achieved over any sustained period in the past. Amongst the industrial countries, it is only the U.S. and Canada which have shown no acceleration in growth.