Irish workers second only to US in production of wealth
IRISH workers produce more wealth per year than any of their counterparts in Europe, coming just second to US workers in the global productivity league.
A major survey by the International Labour Organisation, a UN agency, found that Irish employees produce $55,235 (€40,548) of wealth per year, ahead of Luxembourg at $55,641 (€40,845), Belgium at $55,235 (€40,547) and France at $54,609 (€40,087).
Only American workers generate more in the productivity stakes, producing $63,885 (€46,897) of wealth per year -- 12pc more than the Irish.
The report found that Irish workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and produce more per person over the year.
The productivity figure is found by dividing the country's gross domestic product by the number of people employed. The UN report is based on 2006 figures for many countries, or the most recent available.
Only part of the US productivity growth, which has outpaced that of many other developed economies, can be explained by the longer hours Americans are putting in, the ILO said.
The US, according to the report, also beats all 27 nations in the European Union, Japan and Switzerland in the amount of wealth created per hour of work -- a second key measure of productivity.
Norway, which is not an EU member, generates the most output per working hour, $37.99 (€27.90), a figure inflated by the country's billions of dollars in oil exports and high prices for goods at home.
The US is second at $35.63 (€26.15), about a half dollar ahead of third-place France.
Seven years ago, French workers produced over a dollar more on average than their American counterparts. The country led the US in hourly productivity from 1994 to 2003
In sub-Saharan Africa, workers are only about one-twelfth as productive as those in developed countries, the report said.
"The huge gap in productivity and wealth is cause for great concern," ILO director-general Juan Somavia said.
He added that it was important to raise productivity levels of the lowest-paid workers in the world's poorest countries.
China and other East Asian countries are catching up quickest with Western countries.
Productivity in the region has doubled in the past decade and is accelerating faster than anywhere else, the report said.
Workers in East Asia are still only about one-fifth as productive as labourers in industrialised countries.
