Australia’s productivity collapses to zero

Advertisement

The collapse in Australia’s labour productivity is well documented.

An OECD analysis published in The AFR found that Australia ranked second-last among wealthy nations in productivity growth since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Average productivity growth

EY’s chief economist, Cherelle Murphy, says the decline in Australia’s productivity is partly attributable to “capital shallowing”—the fact that local companies are not investing enough capital in new equipment to match the growth in their workforce.

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:
Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe
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.