Labour productivity rises 2.2 percent

Labour productivity rose 2.2 percent in the year ended March 2022, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

The 2.2 percent rise in labour productivity was the largest growth in the measure since 2010 and follows flat labour productivity in the year ended March 2021. These movements should be considered in the context of the different COVID-19 prevention measures that affected both years ended March 2021 and March 2022.

"The rise in labour productivity reflects output increasing at a greater rate than labour inputs over the March 2022 year," national accounts industry and production senior manager Ruvani Ratnayake said.

Labour productivity measures the quantity of goods and services (output) produced per hour of labour.

A rise was also seen in multifactor productivity, which rose 1.2 percent. Multifactor productivity captures the effects of unobserved inputs such as technological progress, efficiency gains, and economies of scale.

In theory, productivity measures should cover all industries in the economy. The coverage of these statistics only includes the measured sector, which is mainly market-sector industries. This covers approximately three-quarters of New Zealand's economy.

Predominantly non-market service industries like education and healthcare are not included within the measured sector.

Data for the year ended March 2022 is provisional and subject to future updates.