Australia will remain a productivity laggard

The following chart from Justin Fabo at Antipodean Macro shows that Australia’s productivity growth has lagged other advanced nations since 2018.

Wednesday’s Q2 national accounts release confirmed that the nation’s productivity remains stillborn, with non-farm labour productivity rising 0.3% in Q2 but was slightly lower over the year and remained around 2017 levels.

While productivity in the market (private) sector has rebounded, the government-aligned non-market sector (which comprises public administration, healthcare and social assistance, and education) is tracking at around 20-year lows:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.