Which OECD countries have avoided stagnating or declining labour productivity, and why?

We look at 19 OECD countries and measure productivity growth or decline from the start of 2018 to the second quarter of 2023. Over this period, labour productivity increased in the United States, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand; stagnated in the Netherlands and Austria; and declined in Germany, France, Spain, Finland, Greece and Japan. At first sight, we can explain the gap between productivity gains achieved in different countries by: Investment in new technologies and R&D spending; Labour force ageing; Labour force skills; Changes in actual working hours. We can see that almost 70% of the gap in productivity gains between the fourth quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2023 can be explained by differences in the rate of investment in new technologies, changes in the ratio of the population aged 50 to 64 to the population aged 15 to 49, and working hours.