Why is this Purpose target important?
Productivity is a measure of how well an economy uses resources to produce output and is a fundamental determinant of international competitiveness and living standards.
Productivity is generally measured as the amount of output (goods and services) produced in an economy adjusted for the amount of labour (i.e. the number of workers or hours worked) used to produce that level of output. However, the Government Economic Strategy also emphasises that a focus on resource efficiency will help ensure that the Scottish economy remains competitive in globally challenging times, and provide opportunities for a new source of long-term competitive advantage.
Over the long-term, improvements in productivity performance will increase the competitiveness of an economy and make the largest contribution to increases in overall economic growth rates. Improving Scotland's productivity performance is therefore central to the Government Economic Strategy.
What will influence this Purpose target?
International evidence identifies a range of drivers that influence productivity performance, including:
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Investment in Infrastructure
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Resource Efficiency
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A skilled, educated and adaptable workforce
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Innovation, Commercialisation and Research and Development (R&D)
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Enterprise
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Effective and efficient public services
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A competitive business environment
What is the Government's role?
In line with these drivers, the Government Economic Strategy sets out a range of actions to support improvements in Scotland's Productivity Performance, including:
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Helping firms to compete in international markets
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Encouraging leadership development and effective skills utilisation
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Supporting resource efficiency and the transition to a low carbon economy
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Investing in Scotland's transport and digital infrastructure
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Supporting innovation and commercialisation
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Ensuring education is responsive and aligned to demand
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Improving health and well-being
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Effectively utilising Scotland's public resources
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Providing effective and accessible enterprise support
How are we performing?
The evaluation is based on the change in the gap between productivity levels in Scotland and the lowest ranked country in the top quartile. Germany has been the lowest ranked country in the top quartile since 2006. In 2010 Scotland was ranked 17th (out of 32 countries) for productivity levels amongst OECD countries, placing Scotland at the top of the third quartile.
In 2009, Scottish Productivity levels were 84.6% of levels in Germany – a gap of 15.4 percentage points. In 2010, Productivity levels in Scotland were 85.5% of levels in Germany – a gap of 14.5 percentage points. Therefore between 2009 and 2010 the gap between productivity levels in Scotland and the lowest ranked country in the top quartile (Germany) decreased by just under 1.0 percentage point.
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Office for National Statistics
The data for this chart is available at the bottom of the page
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Office for National Statistics
Criteria for recent change
This evaluation is based on: any difference in the gap within +/- 1 percentage points of last year's figure suggests that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change. A decrease in the gap of 1 percentage point or more suggests that the position is improving; whereas an increase in the gap of 1 percentage point or more suggests the position is worsening.
Further Information
For information on general methodological approach, please click here.
Scotland Performs Technical Note
Statistics Topic Page