Productivity gap between UK and other countries

Output per hour in the UK in 2014 was 18 per cent below the average for the rest of the major G7 advanced economies - the widest productivity gap since comparable estimates began in 1991, said the Office for National Statistics.

In financial services, the UK was five per cent more productive than Germany but six per cent less productive than France and 22 per cent less productive than the USA between 2010 and 2014.

In manufacturing, the UK was 24 per cent less productive than Germany, 18 per cent less productive than France and 45 per cent less productive than the USA.

UK output per hour in 2014 was five per cent lower than Spain and considerably lower than productivity in Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands, said the ONS.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “For all the good news on rising employment, the UK is still not creating enough quality jobs.”