--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-46/cracking-the-productivity-code-an-international-comparison-of-uk-productivity/" title: "Cracking the Productivity Code: An International Comparison of UK Productivity" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T08:15:08+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-17T09:42:38+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2024" ipm_keyword: - "capital intensity" - "EUKLEMS" - "France" - "Germany" - "intangibles" - "labour productivity" - "productivity puzzle" - "TFP" - "UK" - "United States" - "Van Reenen" ipm_research_theme: - "Productivity trends and comparisons" ipm_country_focus: - "France" - "Germany" - "International" - "United Kingdom" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Cracking the Productivity Code: An International Comparison of UK Productivity Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-46/cracking-the-productivity-code-an-international-comparison-of-uk-productivity/ # Cracking the Productivity Code: An International Comparison of UK Productivity [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-46-3-Van-Reenen-Yang.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Van Reenen, John, and Xuyi Yang. 2024. “Cracking the Productivity Code: An International Comparison of UK Productivity.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 46 (Spring 2024): 60–82. https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-46/cracking-the-productivity-code-an-international-comparison-of-uk-productivity/ ## Authors: - John Van Reenen MIT - Xuyi Yang University of Cambridge / POID ## IPM Issue 46 Spring 2024 pp. 60–82 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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Paul Fisher Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 115–138](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/de-industrialization-and-the-great-productivity-slowdown-what-comes-next/) [ONS Response to ‘Are UK Regional Productivity Disparities Really Narrowing?’ Richard Prothero Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 85–89](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/ons-response-to-are-uk-regional-productivity-disparities-really-narrowing/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn We examine the growth and level of UK productivity compared to France, Germany and the United States. There has been a marked slowdown in labour productivity growth: comparing the dozen years before and after the Global Financial Crisis. The average annual growth of the UK’s real value added per hour in the market economy has fallen from 2.5 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Just over half of this two percentage point slowdown is due to slower TFP growth, which is broadly similar in magnitude across countries. Britain experienced a much larger slowdown in the growth of capital intensity than other countries and it is this (alongside a smaller contribution from slow skills growth) which accounts for the particularly severe ‘productivity puzzle’. The level of UK labour productivity is also low compared to peers, especially the United States. In 2019, lower tangible and intangible capital intensity accounted for about half of this gap. These findings suggest that UK policy should focus on the problem of chronic under-investment Nous examinons la croissance et le niveau de la productivité du Royaume-Uni par rapport à la France, à l’Allemagne et aux États-Unis. Il y a eu un ralentissement marqué de la croissance de la productivité du travail, comparant les douze années avant et après la crise financière mondiale. La croissance annuelle moyenne de la valeur ajoutée réelle par heure du Royaume-Uni dans l’économie marchande est passée de 2,5 % à 0,5 %. Un peu plus de la moitié de ce ralentissement de deux points de pourcentage est dû à une plus faible croissance de la PMF, d’ampleur globalement similaire entre les pays. Le Royaume-Uni a connu un ralentissement beaucoup plus important de la croissance de l’intensité du capital que les autres pays, ce qui, avec une plus faible contribution de la croissance des compétences, explique l’énigme de productivité particulièrement grave. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-46-3-Van-Reenen-Yang.pdf)