How productive is the Australian economy?

Ask this yourself

Show me how much Australians produce for each hour they work, how that has changed over the last thirty years, and whether the recent stall is across the whole economy or just parts of it.

No higher than its pre-pandemic peak in the December quarter of 2019, the least flattering base available. Output per hour worked, seasonally adjusted, fell 0.2 per cent over the year to June 2026. Productivity grew 2.3 per cent a year in the decade to 2005; in the decade to 2025 it grew 0.3.

GDP per hour worked: 99.7; June quarter 2026 · index, 2023-24 = 100, seasonally adjusted; -0.2% over the year
Growth since December 2019: 0.0% a year; Dec 2019 to Jun 2026 · compound annual rate, calculated from the seasonally adjusted index
Growth in the decade to 2005: 2.3% a year; Jun 1995 to Jun 2005 · calculated; against 0.3% a year to June 2025

1. Six and a half years with no net gain

in June 2026 was at its December 2019 level, within the rounding of an index the ABS publishes to one decimal place. The index rose sharply in 2020 and has given all of that back. Growth in output per hour is what allows real incomes to rise over the long run without working more hours, and on that measure Australia is where it was six and a half years ago.

Output per hour worked

GDP per hour worked, seasonally adjusted, index 2023-24 = 100

GDP per hour worked
December 2019 level

Index (2023-24 = 100) · Quarter

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, June 2026 Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product

Show the numbers

Output per hour worked
Quarter	GDP per hour worked	December 2019 level
Mar 1995	68.4	99.8
Jun 1995	67.6	99.8
Sep 1995	68.9	99.8
Dec 1995	68.7	99.8
Mar 1996	69.6	99.8
Jun 1996	70.4	99.8
Sep 1996	70.7	99.8
Dec 1996	71.4	99.8
Mar 1997	71.5	99.8
Jun 1997	73.7	99.8
Sep 1997	73.9	99.8
Dec 1997	74.2	99.8
Mar 1998	74.8	99.8
Jun 1998	75.0	99.8
Sep 1998	76.7	99.8
Dec 1998	77.1	99.8
Mar 1999	77.8	99.8
Jun 1999	77.8	99.8
Sep 1999	77.9	99.8
Dec 1999	77.9	99.8
Mar 2000	78.0	99.8
Jun 2000	78.0	99.8
Sep 2000	77.7	99.8
Dec 2000	78.7	99.8
Mar 2001	79.7	99.8
Jun 2001	79.9	99.8
Sep 2001	81.0	99.8
Dec 2001	81.6	99.8
Mar 2002	82.0	99.8
Jun 2002	83.2	99.8
Sep 2002	82.8	99.8
Dec 2002	82.8	99.8
Mar 2003	82.5	99.8
Jun 2003	82.7	99.8
Sep 2003	84.0	99.8
Dec 2003	84.8	99.8
Mar 2004	85.4	99.8
Jun 2004	85.7	99.8
Sep 2004	86.0	99.8
Dec 2004	85.5	99.8
Mar 2005	84.9	99.8
Jun 2005	84.7	99.8
Sep 2005	85.5	99.8
Dec 2005	86.5	99.8
Mar 2006	86.3	99.8
Jun 2006	85.5	99.8
Sep 2006	85.8	99.8
Dec 2006	86.3	99.8
Mar 2007	87.3	99.8
Jun 2007	87.1	99.8
Sep 2007	87.5	99.8
Dec 2007	86.7	99.8
Mar 2008	87.4	99.8
Jun 2008	86.6	99.8
Sep 2008	86.8	99.8
Dec 2008	87.0	99.8
Mar 2009	88.3	99.8
Jun 2009	89.5	99.8
Sep 2009	90.1	99.8
Dec 2009	89.8	99.8
Mar 2010	90.0	99.8
Jun 2010	89.4	99.8
Sep 2010	89.7	99.8
Dec 2010	89.7	99.8
Mar 2011	88.5	99.8
Jun 2011	90.1	99.8
Sep 2011	91.0	99.8
Dec 2011	91.4	99.8
Mar 2012	92.0	99.8
Jun 2012	92.9	99.8
Sep 2012	93.5	99.8
Dec 2012	93.6	99.8
Mar 2013	94.0	99.8
Jun 2013	93.8	99.8
Sep 2013	94.4	99.8
Dec 2013	95.5	99.8
Mar 2014	96.4	99.8
Jun 2014	96.2	99.8
Sep 2014	96.5	99.8
Dec 2014	97.0	99.8
Mar 2015	97.0	99.8
Jun 2015	96.8	99.8
Sep 2015	97.2	99.8
Dec 2015	97.3	99.8
Mar 2016	97.9	99.8
Jun 2016	98.7	99.8
Sep 2016	98.3	99.8
Dec 2016	99.1	99.8
Mar 2017	98.3	99.8
Jun 2017	98.1	99.8
Sep 2017	98.5	99.8
Dec 2017	98.2	99.8
Mar 2018	99.1	99.8
Jun 2018	99.1	99.8
Sep 2018	99.0	99.8
Dec 2018	99.0	99.8
Mar 2019	98.6	99.8
Jun 2019	99.0	99.8
Sep 2019	99.1	99.8
Dec 2019	99.8	99.8
Mar 2020	101	99.8
Jun 2020	102	99.8
Sep 2020	101	99.8
Dec 2020	102	99.8
Mar 2021	103	99.8
Jun 2021	102	99.8
Sep 2021	103	99.8
Dec 2021	104	99.8
Mar 2022	105	99.8
Jun 2022	103	99.8
Sep 2022	101	99.8
Dec 2022	100	99.8
Mar 2023	99.7	99.8
Jun 2023	98.6	99.8
Sep 2023	99.6	99.8
Dec 2023	100	99.8
Mar 2024	101	99.8
Jun 2024	99.7	99.8
Sep 2024	99.1	99.8
Dec 2024	99.2	99.8
Mar 2025	99.5	99.8
Jun 2025	99.9	99.8
Sep 2025	100	99.8
Dec 2025	100	99.8
Mar 2026	99.7	99.8
Jun 2026	99.7	99.8

2. The slowdown is two decades old

This is not a pandemic effect. grew 2.3 per cent a year through the decade to 2005, 1.3 per cent through the decade to 2015, and 0.3 per cent through the decade to 2025. The second decade lost about two-fifths of the first decade's rate; the third lost three-quarters of the second's. The compounding matters: at the rate of the decade to 2005, output per hour would double in thirty years; at the rate of the decade to 2025 it would take more than two hundred.

Productivity growth, by decade

Compound annual growth in GDP per hour worked between the quarters shown

Since December 2019
No growth
Other series

% a year · Period

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, June 2026 Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product

Show the numbers

Productivity growth, by decade
Period	Earlier decades	Since December 2019
1995–2005	2.3	—
2005–2015	1.3	—
2015–2025	0.32	—
Dec 2019 – Jun 2026	—	-0.02

3. Excluding the non-market industries helps, but not enough

A common defence is that measured is dragged down by the , where output is valued at what it costs to provide. The ABS's market-sector measure excludes public administration, education, health and ownership of dwellings — an grouping, so private hospitals sit outside it. It has done better — up 2.8 per cent since December 2019, about 0.4 per cent a year — but it too fell 0.2 per cent over the past year, and that is a fifth of the 2.3 per cent a year of the decade to 2005. The two are not a decomposition: one is per hour, the other gross domestic product per hour.

Output per hour: whole economy and market sector

Seasonally adjusted; ABS indexes rebased by Aard to December quarter 2019 = 100

Gross value added per hour worked, market sector
GDP per hour worked
December quarter 2019

Index (Dec 2019 = 100) · Quarter

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, June 2026 Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product

Show the numbers

Output per hour: whole economy and market sector
Quarter	Gross value added per hour worked, market sector	GDP per hour worked	December quarter 2019
Mar 2010	86.6	90.2	100
Jun 2010	86.6	89.6	100
Sep 2010	86.2	89.9	100
Dec 2010	86.7	89.9	100
Mar 2011	85.7	88.7	100
Jun 2011	87.9	90.3	100
Sep 2011	89.2	91.2	100
Dec 2011	88.8	91.6	100
Mar 2012	90.2	92.2	100
Jun 2012	90.9	93.1	100
Sep 2012	91.2	93.7	100
Dec 2012	92.3	93.8	100
Mar 2013	92.2	94.2	100
Jun 2013	92.5	94.0	100
Sep 2013	93.1	94.6	100
Dec 2013	94.3	95.7	100
Mar 2014	95.3	96.6	100
Jun 2014	95.6	96.4	100
Sep 2014	95.9	96.7	100
Dec 2014	96.4	97.2	100
Mar 2015	96.6	97.2	100
Jun 2015	97.0	97.0	100
Sep 2015	96.9	97.4	100
Dec 2015	97.1	97.5	100
Mar 2016	97.3	98.1	100
Jun 2016	98.6	98.9	100
Sep 2016	98.5	98.5	100
Dec 2016	99.2	99.3	100
Mar 2017	98.8	98.5	100
Jun 2017	98.4	98.3	100
Sep 2017	98.9	98.7	100
Dec 2017	98.0	98.4	100
Mar 2018	99.6	99.3	100
Jun 2018	100	99.3	100
Sep 2018	99.4	99.2	100
Dec 2018	99.5	99.2	100
Mar 2019	98.6	98.8	100
Jun 2019	100	99.2	100
Sep 2019	99.9	99.3	100
Dec 2019	100	100	100
Mar 2020	101	101	100
Jun 2020	104	102	100
Sep 2020	102	102	100
Dec 2020	103	102	100
Mar 2021	103	104	100
Jun 2021	102	103	100
Sep 2021	105	103	100
Dec 2021	106	105	100
Mar 2022	106	105	100
Jun 2022	103	103	100
Sep 2022	102	102	100
Dec 2022	101	100	100
Mar 2023	102	99.9	100
Jun 2023	101	98.8	100
Sep 2023	102	99.8	100
Dec 2023	102	100	100
Mar 2024	103	101	100
Jun 2024	102	99.9	100
Sep 2024	102	99.3	100
Dec 2024	102	99.4	100
Mar 2025	102	99.7	100
Jun 2025	103	100	100
Sep 2025	103	101	100
Dec 2025	103	101	100
Mar 2026	103	99.9	100
Jun 2026	103	99.9	100

4. Growth is coming from hours, not from output per hour

Since December 2019, are up 14.4 per cent while is 0.1 index point lower, within rounding. The extra output since then came from hours rather than from output per hour, and output per hour subtracted: rose 14.3 per cent between the December quarter of 2019 and the June quarter of 2026, against a 14.4 per cent rise in hours worked. Output per person is 4.2 per cent above its December 2019 level but 0.4 per cent below its December 2022 peak.

Hours worked, output per hour and output per person

Seasonally adjusted; hours worked and output per hour are ABS indexes, output per person an ABS chain volume level — all set to December quarter 2019 = 100 by Aard

Hours worked
GDP per hour worked
Other series

Index (Dec 2019 = 100) · Quarter

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, June 2026 Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product

Show the numbers

Hours worked, output per hour and output per person
Quarter	Hours worked	GDP per hour worked	GDP per capita
Mar 2015	92.0	97.2	96.1
Jun 2015	92.1	97.0	95.9
Sep 2015	92.8	97.4	96.5
Dec 2015	93.2	97.5	96.7
Mar 2016	93.6	98.1	97.2
Jun 2016	93.3	98.9	97.4
Sep 2016	93.8	98.5	97.0
Dec 2016	94.1	99.3	97.8
Mar 2017	95.1	98.5	97.7
Jun 2017	95.9	98.3	97.8
Sep 2017	96.4	98.7	98.4
Dec 2017	97.1	98.4	98.5
Mar 2018	97.2	99.3	99.1
Jun 2018	97.9	99.3	99.4
Sep 2018	98.4	99.2	99.4
Dec 2018	98.6	99.2	99.3
Mar 2019	99.8	98.8	99.7
Jun 2019	99.7	99.2	99.6
Sep 2019	100	99.3	99.8
Dec 2019	100	100	100
Mar 2020	98.8	101	99.6
Jun 2020	90.8	102	92.6
Sep 2020	94.9	102	95.9
Dec 2020	97.5	102	99.1
Mar 2021	98.4	104	101
Jun 2021	100	103	102
Sep 2021	97.5	103	100
Dec 2021	100	105	103
Mar 2022	100	105	104
Jun 2022	104	103	104
Sep 2022	105	102	104
Dec 2022	108	100	105
Mar 2023	109	99.9	105
Jun 2023	110	98.8	104
Sep 2023	110	99.8	104
Dec 2023	109	100	103
Mar 2024	109	101	103
Jun 2024	110	99.9	103
Sep 2024	111	99.3	103
Dec 2024	111	99.4	103
Mar 2025	111	99.7	103
Jun 2025	112	100	104
Sep 2025	112	101	104
Dec 2025	113	101	104
Mar 2026	114	99.9	104
Jun 2026	114	99.9	104

What to watch for

GDP per hour worked is a labour productivity measure, and the ABS warns in its own glossary that labour productivity indexes 'not only reflect the contribution of labour to changes in production, but are also influenced by the contribution of capital and other factors affecting production' — Australian National Accounts methodology, June 2026. It is not a measure of how hard anyone works.
The 2020 and 2021 values are severely distorted: hours fell far more than output, which mechanically raised measured productivity. Reading that as a genuine efficiency gain is a mistake this page does not make and nor should a reader; read the level either side of the pandemic, not through it. The charts band the period for that reason.
Non-market output — public administration, education and health — is largely valued at the cost of the inputs used to produce it, so measured productivity there moves little by construction. That is why the market-sector series is shown alongside.
Hours worked in the national accounts differs from monthly Labour Force Survey hours; it is benchmarked to the national accounts and revised with them.
The decade rates, the market-sector annual rate, the doubling times and the proportions of one rate to another are all compound-growth calculations Aard makes from published index levels between the two quarters named — not averages of published quarterly changes, and not figures the ABS publishes.
The ABS publishes these productivity and hours series as indexes on its own reference year, 2023-24 = 100. The second and third charts rebase them to the December quarter of 2019 so the lines start together. That rebasing is ours, not the ABS's, and the ABS base moves when it re-references.
December quarter 2019 is the highest reading in the series before the pandemic, and it is the base this page uses throughout. Measured against the 2019 calendar-year average instead, output per hour in June 2026 is 0.6 per cent higher. The base choice is the page's, and it is the least flattering one available.

References

Data extracted 17 September 2026. Reviewed 2026-09-17 by Aard Data Team. Each numbered entry is the publication that documents the figures; the calls beneath it are the ones the retrieval actually made, and each figure is numbered under its publication — 1.1, 1.2 — and links to the narrowest call that returns it.

[1]Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, June 2026
Released 2026-09-02
Vintage: Quarterly. Chain volume measures are not additive except in the reference year; current price values are. Revised with each quarterly and annual release and at each historical revision.
- API Calls: · extracted 16 September 2026
  ABS:ANA_AGG(1.0.0)https://data.api.abs.gov.au/rest/data/ABS,ANA_AGG,1.0.0/all?startPeriod=1990-Q1
  - 1.198.6 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2019-Q1 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.299 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2019-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.399.1 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2019-Q3 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.499.8 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2019-Q4 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.599.7 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2026-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.6611,732 $ million per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2019-Q4 · Gross domestic product, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.7699,461 $ million per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2026-Q2 · Gross domestic product, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.891.5 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2019-Q4 · Hours worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_HRW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.9104.7 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2026-Q2 · Hours worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_HRW.20.AUS.Q
  The base the productivity page rests on, written after the 2026-09-16 audit found the page saying 'no more productive than it was in 2019' on the strength of one 2019 quarter. All four are below. December 2019 at 99.8 is the highest pre-pandemic reading in the series, so anchoring on it maximises the apparent stall; the 2019 calendar-year average is 99.125, and June 2026 at 99.7 is 0.58 per cent ABOVE that. The page's claim is true of the December quarter and not of 2019, and it now says which. Also here: GDP and hours worked at the same two dates, so the page's central argument — the extra output came from hours, not from output per hour — sits in one record instead of being assembled across three. GDP rose 14.34 per cent between December 2019 and June 2026 and hours worked 14.43 per cent. Note the units differ and are not divided here: GDP is a chain volume level in $ million, hours worked is an index on the ABS's own 2023-24 = 100 base, and the two percentage changes are compared, not the levels. Percentage changes and the 2019 average are calculated by Aard from these published values. UNIT_MEASURE on the index series is IN with UNIT_MULT 0, and the ABS publishes them to one decimal place, which is why differences of a tenth on this page are described as within rounding rather than as movements. Fetched from the same dataflow and the same June 2026 release on 2026-09-16 and every value reproduced exactly.
  - 1.1099.7 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2026-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.1199.9 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2025-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.1299.8 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2019-Q4 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.13102.2 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2020-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  The ABS publishes GDP per hour worked as an index, so no division is done here. Its base is this release's reference year, 2023-24 = 100. Re-run verbatim on 2026-09-16 while migrating this page to evidence records; every value below reproduced exactly.
  - 1.1467.6 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 1995-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.1584.7 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2005-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.1696.8 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2015-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.1799.9 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2025-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.1899.7 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2026-Q2 · GDP per hour worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  Five readings out of one series and one call, which is what the decade comparison rests on. The compound annual rates and the doubling times — thirty years at 2.3 per cent a year, more than two hundred at 0.3 — are calculated by Aard from these index levels; the ABS publishes neither. Re-run verbatim on 2026-09-16 while migrating this page to evidence records; every value below reproduced exactly.
  - 1.19100.4 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2026-Q2 · Market sector gross value added per hour worked, index, seasonally adjustedM5.GVA_MKT_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.2097.7 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2019-Q4 · Market sector gross value added per hour worked, index, seasonally adjustedM5.GVA_MKT_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.21100.6 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2025-Q2 · Market sector gross value added per hour worked, index, seasonally adjustedM5.GVA_MKT_PHW.20.AUS.Q
  The market sector excludes public administration, education, health and ownership of dwellings — the parts of the economy whose output is measured by their inputs. It comes out of the same call as the whole-economy measure, so the two are directly comparable. Re-run verbatim on 2026-09-16 while migrating this page to evidence records; every value below reproduced exactly.
  - 1.22104.7 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2026-Q2 · Hours worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_HRW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.2391.5 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2019-Q4 · Hours worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_HRW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.24102.3 index, 2023-24 = 100 · 2025-Q2 · Hours worked, index, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM5.GPM_HRW.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.25699,461 $ million per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2026-Q2 · Gross domestic product, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.26684,822 $ million per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2025-Q2 · Gross domestic product, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM.20.AUS.Q
  Hours worked, the denominator of the productivity measure, from the same call — and GDP beside it, so the comparison of the two growth rates needs no second record. Set beside the flat productivity index it is the page's argument: the extra output since 2019 came from more hours, not from more output per hour. Re-run verbatim on 2026-09-16 while migrating this page to evidence records; every value below reproduced exactly.
  - 1.27611,732 $ million per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2019-Q4 · Gross domestic product, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.28699,461 $ million per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2026-Q2 · Gross domestic product, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.2923,962 $ per person per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2019-Q4 · GDP per capita, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM_PCA.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.3024,971 $ per person per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2026-Q2 · GDP per capita, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM_PCA.20.AUS.Q
  The two series rebased to December 2019 = 100 by Aard. The distance between them is population growth, which is the section's argument. Re-run verbatim on 2026-09-16 while migrating this page to evidence records; every value below reproduced exactly.
  - 1.3124,971 $ per person per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2026-Q2 · GDP per capita, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM_PCA.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.3224,802 $ per person per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2025-Q2 · GDP per capita, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM_PCA.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.3325,063 $ per person per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2022-Q4 · GDP per capita, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM_PCA.20.AUS.Q
  - 1.3425,034 $ per person per quarter, 2023-24 prices · 2022-Q2 · GDP per capita, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted, Australia, quarterlyM1.GPM_PCA.20.AUS.Q
  The whole quarterly series from March 1990, which is the call the charts and every per-person claim on this page were built from. Through-the-year growth was negative in eight consecutive quarters, June 2023 to March 2025 — the longest run in this series, whose first computable change is March 1991, against four quarters in 2008-09 and four in 2020. Levels fell in each of the six quarters from June 2023 to September 2024. Re-run verbatim on 2026-09-16 while migrating this page to evidence records; every value below reproduced exactly.
- Read from the publication · extracted 17 September 2026
  Read from the publication, not from a call: Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product methodology, June 2026, Glossary, 'Labour productivity' — https://www.abs.gov.au/methodologies/australian-national-accounts-national-income-expenditure-and-product-methodology/jun-2026
  The ABS's own warning about what a labour productivity index does and does not isolate, quoted verbatim in the page's first caveat: labour productivity indexes 'not only reflect the contribution of labour to changes in production, but are also influenced by the contribution of capital and other factors affecting production'. Written after the round-2 audit found the caveat quoting the ABS with no reference a reader could follow. Read from the methodology release; there is no dataflow and no call for a definition.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, June 2026. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

How productive is the Australian economy?

1. Six and a half years with no net gain

Output per hour worked

2. The slowdown is two decades old

Productivity growth, by decade

3. Excluding the non-market industries helps, but not enough

Output per hour: whole economy and market sector

4. Growth is coming from hours, not from output per hour

Hours worked, output per hour and output per person

What to watch for

References

Related questions