Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Unit C2 - National Accounts - production
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
5 Rue Alphonse Weicker
L-2921 Luxembourg
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
7 January 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
7 January 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
7 January 2025
3.1. Data description
Growth and productivity accounts serve as an important input in the assessments of country-specific developments and policy evaluations. Since detailed information is needed to assess the development of trends in productivity and competitiveness, Eurostat decided to enlarge its publication of growth and productivity indicators in cooperation with experts represented in a Task Force (2018-2021).
Labour productivity indicators (LPIs) are a set of indicators to analyse the use of labour in the production process. Typically, labour productivity is measured as the ratio of an output in real terms (e.g. value added or output in chain-linked volumes) and a labour input (e.g. persons, hours worked). Some additional indicators are also disseminated to support the analysis such as persons employed per capita, compensation per employee, hours worked per person employed or hours worked per capita. Indicators are available for the total economy, by industry and at regional level.
Capital productivity indicators (CAPIs) are a set of indicators to analyse the use of capital in the production process. Typically, capital productivity is measured as the ratio of a measure of output in real terms (e.g. value added or output in chain-linked volumes) to a measure of capital input in real terms (e.g. capital stock in chain-linked volumes or derived capital services). In addition, capital-labour ratios provide more detailed insights concerning the use of capital relative to labour. Changes of these latter indicators are referred to as ‘capital deepening’. The CAPI indicators published by Eurostat are based on net capital stocks. The indicators are available for specific industries and/or asset breakdowns.
Labour and capital productivity indicators at total economy and industry level (nama_10_lpc)
Labour productivity and unit labour costs (nama_10_lp_ulc)
Labour productivity and unit labour costs at industry level (nama_10_lp_a21)
Capital stock based productivity indicators at industry level (nama_10_cp_a21)
Labour Productivity at regional level (nama_10r_lp)
Nominal Labour productivity by NUTS 2 regions (nama_10r_2nlp)
Nominal Labour productivity by NUTS 3 regions (nama_10r_3nlp)
Real Labour productivity by NUTS 2 regions (nama_10r_2rlp)
Compensation per employee and hours worked per employed person by NUTS 2 regions and by industry (nama_10r_2lp10)
Please note that all indicators included in this collection are calculated by Eurostat based on the regular set of National Accounts data transmitted by Member States under the European System of Accounts 2010 Transmission Programme (ESA 2010 TP). While users could already use published data to derive productivity indicators on their own, the Eurostat selection aims to offer a selection of ready-to-use indicators with explanatory metadata.
The use of national accounts data and the harmonised derivation methods by Eurostat are aimed to increase transparency and cross-country comparability. However, users should be aware that there are different sets of productivity indicators published by the countries or other international organisations that may use partly different sources or more sophisticated methods like adjustments in labour quality or derivation of capital services. While these can be more suited for specific analysis, users are invited to consult the metadata published with the respective indicators to be aware about specific sources, methods and/or assumptions used.
3.2. Classification system
Annual national accounts used to derive LPIs presented in this collection are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts - ESA 2010 as defined in Annex B of the Council Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council published in the Official Journal on 26 June 2013. The associated transmission programme was also updated and defines compulsory data transmissions from September 2014 onwards. ESA 2010 is aligned with the international statistical standard - the SNA 2008 - published by the United Nations.
LPIs presented in this collection are compiled at the level of the total economy at industry level and by regional breakdowns. CAPIs are compiled by industry and by asset types breakdowns. The classifications applied are described below.
Economic activity
ESA2010 uses aggregation levels of the NACE Rev.2 classification to define industry breakdowns (NACE stands for Nomenclature générale des Activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes). NACE Rev.2 is a classification of economic activities widely used in statistics and in other domains. Requirements for the transmission of NACE Rev.2 series have been specified in the Commission Regulation (EC) No 715/2010 of 10 August 2010.
Capital and Labour productivity indicators are available at the total economy level and at detailed industries at the NACE Rev.2 up to A*21 breakdowns. Some industry breakdowns (sections L, O, P, Q, T and U) are excluded from the set for methodological reasons (refer to detailed metadata and some additional explanations provided on the webpage). Nevertheless, these activities are included in the total economy’s indicators.
Asset types
Capital productivity indicators are provided for total fixed assets and for the following four main asset types plus ICT equipment.
N11N Tal fixed assets (net)
N11KN Total construction (net)
N11MN Machinery and equipment and weapon system (net)
N115N Cultivated biological resources (net);
N117N Intellectual property products (net);
plus
N1132N ICT equipment (net)
Regional breakdown
The NUTS classification provides a single, uniform breakdown of the economic territory of the European Union. The regional breakdown of the countries into regions is based on Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS). The annexes to this Regulation that contain the regional breakdowns of the Member States are usually updated every three years. The version currently in force is NUTS 2021, Commission Delegated Regulation 2019/1755 of 8 August 2019, applicable for data transmission from the Member States to Eurostat since 1 January 2021.
For a complete list of classifications used, please refer either to:
Further information (including current communications) is presented on the Eurostat website.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Productivity indicators (LPIs and CAPIs) are compiled for total of the economy with industry, regional and asset breakdowns.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The LPIs derived from National Accounts data provided by Member States are calculated on an annual basis for total of the economy (which includes market and non-market sectors), and (when possible) for various breakdowns, by economic activity (ranging from total economy to industry breakdowns in NACE Rev.2), and by regional disaggregation (from national to regional level in NUTS).
Its main constituting inputs are: GDP, GVA for industry/regional breakdowns, compensation of employees, population, employment and hours worked.
The key concepts specific to LPIs cover the following definitions:
Compensation per employee
D1_SAL_PER=Compensation of employees (D.1) divided by Number of Employees (PER_SAL).
Compensation of employees per hour worked
D1_SAL_HW=Compensation of employees (D.1) divided by total hours worked by employees (HW_SAL).
Real labour productivity per person employed
RLPR_PER=GDP in volume terms (real) divided by total employment (employees and self-employed). GDP is used for total of the economy, while GVA is used for industry breakdowns.
Real labour productivity per hour worked
RLPR_HW=GDP in volume terms (real) divided by total hours worked by employees and self-employed (HW_EMP). For total of the economy GDP is used. However, for industry breakdowns, industry GVA replaces GDP.
Nominal unit labour cost based on persons
NULC_PER=Compensation per employee (D1_SAL_PER) divided by Real labour productivity per person employed (RLPR_PER). Remarks done above for RLPR_PER, when calculated for industry breakdowns, also apply here.
Nominal unit labour cost based on hour worked
NULC_HW=Compensation of employees per hours worked (D1_SAL_HW) divided by Real labour productivity per hour worked (RLPR_HW). Remarks done above for RLPR_HW, when calculated for industry breakdowns, also apply here.
Total employment (persons employed) per capita
EMP_POP=Percentage of total employment (EMP, domestic concept) on total population (POP, national concept).
Hours worked per capita HW_POP=Total hours worked by employees and self-employed (HW_EMP) divided by total of population (POP)
Hours worked per employed person
HW_EMP=Total hours worked by employees and self-employed (HW_EMP) divided by total employment (EMP)
Nominal labour productivity per person employed
NLPR_EMP=GDP at current prices (nominal) divided by total employment (EMP)
Nominal labour productivity per hour worked
NLPR_HW=GDP at current prices (nominal) divided by total hours worked by employees and self-employed (HW_EMP).
The availability of indicators will differ by territorial breakdown and industry breakdown. The overview table with provided indicators is presented in the LPIs metadata.
LPIs addressing total of the economy scope include all market and non-market industries. LPI for total of the economy, such as real labour productivity or nominal unit labour cost use GDP, whereas these indicators broken down by industry are calculated basing on GVA instead of GDP.
Some of the LPIs are not made available for all NACE breakdowns and regional breakdown due to some limitations that concern their comparability and usability. Unavailable breakdowns are due to three main reasons :
the non-availability of population by industry;
employees with multiple jobs are only accounted in the industry of the main job, so the indicators by industry based on employment are mainly provided per hours worked.
the not availability of data (real GDP, compensation of employees…) at NUT3 levels.
CAPIs derived from National Accounts data provided by Member States are calculated on an annual basis for various breakdowns, by economic activity (total economy or NACE Rev. 2, A21) and by asset type (total fixed assets or main asset types, section 3.2).
The main constituting inputs are: net fixed assets (capital stock), gross value added and employment (persons employed and hours worked).
Net Capital stock is the sum of the written-down values of all the fixed assets still in use. It can also be described as the difference between gross capital stock and consumption of fixed capital. (see OECD glossary of statistical terms).
In summary the key concepts specific to CAPIs cover the following definitions:
Gross value added per unit of net fixed assets
GVA_NCS=Real value added (GVA in CLV) divided by real net fixed asset (NxxN in CLV)
Net fixed assets to gross value added
NCS_GVA=Real net fixed asset (NxxN in CLV) divided by real value added (GVA in CLV)
Net fixed assets per employed person
NCS_EMP=Real net fixed asset (NxxN in CLV) divided by persons employed (EMP)
Net fixed assets per hour worked
NCS_HW=Real net fixed asset (NxxN in CLV) divided by hours worked
The availability of indicators will differ by industry breakdown and by asset type. The overview table with provided indicators is presented in the CAPIs metadata).
CAPIs addressing total of the economy scope include all market and non-market industries.
3.5. Statistical unit
The units used in the national accounts data published by Eurostat are, in principle, the local KAU or the institutional unit as defined in ESA2010. This is the case for both the country data received, and for the euro area and EU aggregates compiled by Eurostat. However, deviations might occur where the units used in the received country data are not fully compliant with the ESA 2010 guidelines. For information on statistical unit refer to nama10.
3.6. Statistical population
The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units or local KAUs, see section 3.5). A unit is a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of predominant economic interest on the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (one year or more) in economic activities on this territory. For more information on statistical population see nama10.
3.7. Reference area
Eurostat publishes productivity indicators for EU Member States, Iceland, Switzerland, Norway and enlargement countries if data are available. For CAPIs the EU-27 aggregates (or the euro area aggregates) are not yet available since aggregates for capital stocks have not yet been published.
EU Member States and EFTA countries have legal obligations to submit their data to Eurostat as defined in the European System of Accounts ESA 2010 transmission programme of data.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Time coverage (i.e., length of the historical series) can differ for individual national series. Generally, coverage starts from 1995, with some exceptions mostly in the case of the New Member States. Derogations have ended since the beginning of 2020. For CAPI indicators based on capital stock data, series may start 2000 in line with the transmission programme requirements.
3.9. Base period
The concept of 'base period' is not applied in national accounts. Instead, for some national accounts variables the concepts of previous year prices and chain-linked volumes are applied, as stipulated in Commission Decision 98/715/EC. Expressing variables at the prices of the previous year allows the calculation of volume indices between the current time period and the previous year. After a reference period is chosen as a benchmark, volume indices can be chain-linked and then applied to variables at current prices of the benchmark year. This generates volume estimates for any period of observation.
The LPIs encompass a range of unit measures that include current prices (Euro, National currency, Purchasing Power Standard), volume (Chain-linked volumes CLV), as well as specific units for persons, employment and hours worked (thousands, THS; millions, M). LPIs are also expressed in terms of transformations of these units (ratios, indexes and percentage changes). Please note that series are not available for all transformations: for instance, growth rates are only used for real rates and not nominal rates to avoid the distortion effects of price changes in the evolution of LPIs.
Basic units of measure
Current prices (CP) figures are typically expressed in (millions of) national currency (NAC) and euro (EUR). They can be directly observed but include inflation effects.
National currency series (CP_MNAC) (including current prices euro series for euro area Member States) are transmitted by Member states and correspond to nationally published figures. They are suitable for studying the development of a variable in a single country over time.
Euro series (CP_MEUR) are derived from transmitted national currency series using historic exchange rates. They are suitable for international comparison and aggregation. When comparing them over time, exchange rate effects should be taken into account.
For euro area Member States, the national currency series are converted into euros using the irrevocably fixed exchange rate. This preserves the same growth rates than for the previous national currency series. Both series coincide for years after accession to the euro area but differ for earlier years due to market exchange rate movements.
Volume figures show the development of aggregates excluding inflation. They are typically presented as chain-linked volumes, indices or various growth rates.
Population, employment and hours worked figures are crucial for the definition of LPIs. They help comparisons between countries, or between industries or sectors within the same economy.
They are typically expressed in thousands of their respective units (e.g. persons, hours). For this purpose, definitions of population and labour inputs must be consistent with the ESA concepts.
Total population of a country consists of all persons, national or foreign, who are permanently settled in the economic territory of the country, even if they are temporarily absent from it. For an annual estimation of the population an annual average of head counts will provide an appropriate basis for estimating national accounts variables (THS_PER).
Employment covers all persons engaged in productive activity that falls within the production boundary of the national accounts. Persons in employment are employees or self-employed persons (THS_EMP).
Total hours worked represents the aggregate number of hours actually worked as an employee or self-employed person during the accounting period, when their output is within the production boundary (THS_HW).
Derived units of measure
From magnitudes expressed in the above basic units of measure, a set of transformations is carried out to derive LPIs. Beyond the indicator definition (see section 3.4), according to the transformation involved in its definition they are usually expressed in the following units:
Current prices transformations to account for purchasing power parities
Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) (CP_MPPS) are fictive 'currency' units that remove differences in purchasing power, i.e. different price levels between countries. These parities are obtained as a weighted average of relative price ratios in respect to a homogeneous basket of goods and services, both comparable and representative for each country. They are fixed in a way that makes the average purchasing power of one euro in the European Union (or Euro Area) equal to one PPS. PPS series should be used for cross-country comparisons in a specific year but do not for comparisons over time since they do not constitute time series.
Percentages with respect to EU aggregates
To facilitate the comparisons between countries, data are expressed in percent relative of the EU aggregate, e.g. using euro (PC_EU27_MEUR_CP) or purchasing power standards (PC_EU27_MPPS_CP).
Volume and index series
Chain-linked volume series obtained by successively applying previous year's price's growth rates to the current price figure of a specific reference year e.g. 2010 (CLV10_MNAC, CLV10_MEUR).
Chain-linking involves the loss of additivity for all years except the reference year and the directly following year, because these are the only periods expressed in prices of the reference year. For other years, chain-linked components of GDP will not sum to chain-linked GDP, and chain-linked Member States' GDP will not sum to chain-linked EU GDP.
Index series of chain-linked volume series (CLV_I10, CLV_I15) are derived by successively applying previous year's price's growth rates to an index value 100 in the reference year. The index growth rates are equal to the growth rates of the underlying volume series used to build the index.
Index series are also calculated for physical LPIs not affected by price changes (I10, I15), such persons employed per capita, labour utilisation or hours worked per employed person. The index growth rates are equal to the growth rates of the underlying physical series used to build the index.
The index growth rates are equal to the growth rates of the underlying physical series used to build the index.
Growth rates are derived from the indexed series or the underlying series used to build the index, as mentioned above (they all give the same growth rates irrespectively of the currency denominated since the exchange rate is "fixed" to the one in the reference year).
PCH_PRE represents the % change over the previous period. In the case of annual data, such as LPIs, this is the % change with respect to the previous year.
PCH_#Y, represents the % change over longer number of periods, usually 3, 5 or 10 years (e.g. PCH_3Y, PCH_5Y, PCH_10Y). Some time series of LPIs are affected by a larger volatility depending on the estimation methods of the underlying indicators. Longer period growth rates are especially relevant for productivity analysis as it is often related to structural factors, but also note that those tend to mitigate this volatility as the construction method affects more short-run volatility but to a lesser extent the average growth in the long run.
CAPIs encompass a range of indicators that are based on net capital stocks expressed in chain-linked volumes (CLV), persons employed, and hours worked (in thousands). CAPIs are then expressed in terms of transformations of these units (index and percentage change for various time periods: percentage change on previous period, percentage change for three years, percentage change for five years, percentage change for ten years).
No level indicators are provided due to comparability issues (see section 15).
Inputs for calculating CAPIs are usually expressed in the following units:
Stock of net fixed assets in chain-linked volumes (2015), million units of national currency CLV15_MNAC).
Data are taken from the official transmissions of Member States to Eurostat under the ESA2010 Transmission Programme in current and previous year replacement costs, from which Eurostat calculates capital stock data in chain-linked volumes, applying the formula described in CAPIs metadata.
Employment covers all persons engaged in some productive activity (within the production boundary of the national accounts). The CAPIs are calculated on the base of two measures of employment:
Employed persons: either employees (working by agreement for a resident unit and receiving remuneration) or self-employed (owners of unincorporated enterprises) (THS_PER)
Total hours worked represents the aggregate number of hours actually worked as an employee or self-employed person during the accounting period, when their output is within the production boundary (THS_HW).
CAPIs are usually expressed in the following units:
Index: base year 2015
Growth rates: Growth rates are derived from the indexed series.
PCH_PRE represent the percentage change over the previous period (year).
PCH_#Y represent the percentage change over longer number of periods, usually 3, 5, or 10 years (PCH_3Y, PCH_5Y, PCH_10Y).
The reference period is the calendar year, with temporal coverage varying across geographical units. More information in nama10 and in reg_eco10.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
LPIs and CAPIs are based on national accounts which are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) which was published in the Official Journal as Annex A of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013.
The European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) transmission programme is covered in Annex B of the Council Regulation (EU) No 549/2013
Commission Decision 98/715 of 30 November 1998 and Commission Decision 2002/990 of 17 December 2002 on measurement of price and volumes in national accounts.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Data received via the transmission programme are shared with other institutions in accordance with specific agreements, notably with the ECB and the OECD. A Protocol for co-operation between Eurostat and the OECD in the area of National Accounts signed in June 2013 specifies agreed data exchange and data validation arrangements. These data are published in Eurobase in the naid_10 collection.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
If Member States transmit data with a confidentiality flag or an embargo date, these data are not disseminated until the confidentiality flag is removed in a subsequent data transmission or the embargo expired.
8.1. Release calendar
No specific release calendar, but LPIs and CAPIs are automatically compiled based on underlying national accounts transmitted by member states and European aggregates when available.
8.2. Release calendar access
Indicative publication dates for main data releases are published on the Eurostat website.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) transmission programme.
Annual data underlying LPIs for GVA and employment are requested by t+9/21 months
National accounts aggregates by industry (up to NACE A*64) (nama_10_a64)
National accounts employment data by industry (up to NACE A*64) (nama_10_a64_e)
Annual data underlying CAPIs for GVA and employment are requested by t+9/21 months
National accounts aggregates by industry (up to NACE A*64) (nama_10_a64)
National accounts employment data by industry (up to NACE A*64) (nama_10_a64_e)
Net fixed assets data are due after T+24 months (nama_10_nfa)
Cross-classification of fixed assets by industry and by asset (stocks) (nama_10_nfa_st)
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
No specific news release for LPIs and CAPIs is foreseen at this stage.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
A Statistics Explained article on the LPIs and CAPIs is planned early 2022.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
LPIs and CAPIs are automatically derived and disseminated in Eurostat’s online database (Eurobase) when underlying input data are published after successful validation process.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Since all input data derive the productivity indicators are based on the ESA 2010 Transmission Programme (ESA 2010 TP), ESA 2010 constitutes the general methodological framework for this compilation. The country data published in Eurostat's database are prepared by the respective countries using the methodologies as specified under the metadata description of those countries. The ESA 2010 guidelines are applied by all countries.
User can also consult the dedicated website where a more detailed guidelines and methodological explanations concerning the indicators published under this collection can be found.
Selected indicators have been carefully assessed and evaluated in terms of international standards, references, guidelines, technical reports and manuals such as:
The selection of productivity indicators and the drafting of the methodological note have been developed by the TF-PI with participation of National Statistical Institutes and institutional users such as the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, the European Central Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development with support of external experts. The project results have been endorsed by the DMES. For further information users can consult the dedicated website.
11.1. Quality assurance
Quality is assured by strict application of ESA 2010 concepts and by thorough validation of the data delivered by countries.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
LPIs and CAPIs indicators are based on ESA 2010 data transmissions, which are subject to regular quality assessment reviews. For further information See metadata nama10 and ESA quality website.
Beyond these quality assessments that are regularly carried out to input data within ESA2010 and the requirements of the EU quality framework, a thorough quality analysis focused on LPIs at European level was produced by the JRC within Eurostat’s ‘Growth and Productivity Accounts’ project. This report provided an extensive quality analysis of LPIs which are potentially computable from the ESA 2010 data received by Eurostat, and gave advice on the industry breakdown level and regional breakdowns at which the quality of the results can be considered statistically good enough for dissemination as official statistics.
For CAPIs at European level a similar analysis was produced by Vienna Institute for International Studies (wiiw) within Eurostat’s ‘Growth and Productivity Accounts’ project. This report provided an extensive quality analysis of CAPIs which are potentially computable from the ESA 2010 data received by Eurostat, and gave advice on the industry and asset breakdown level at which the quality of the results can be considered statistically good enough for dissemination as official statistics.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The analysis of growth and productivity trends is important for policy maker and analysts.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Interest in GPA indicators based on official statistics have long been requested by main users.
12.3. Completeness
Completeness rates of underlying ESA data transmissions are assessed in annual quality reports.
Since LPIs and CAPIs are based on compulsory series and all derogations expired in 2020, completeness rates are generally high, with remaining gaps either due to some non-compliance or non-publishable or confidential data flags.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Eurostat assesses the accuracy of national data by systematically applying validation checks to all national accounts transmissions of countries. Accuracy of national accounts estimates is analysed in terms of revisions. For more information see Section 13 of nama10 and of reg_eco10.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
Member States are required to transmit their data to Eurostat in compliance with the European System of Accounts ESA 2010 transmission programme.
14.2. Punctuality
The punctuality of transmissions is usually very high and is reported in the annual ESA quality reports.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
LPIs can present comparability issues across countries and regions depending on a set of factors concerning the input data used to compute the indicators:
Differential price dynamics for nominal data: comparison of nominal productivity growth across geographical areas is misleading since inflation levels are likely to be different. Nominal indicators should be compared with caution.
Direct static comparisons should be performed in PPS to avoid different price levels across countries. Although indicators adjusted and unadjusted for PPS are useful, unadjusted for PPS figures should be compared across countries with caution.
Different methodology across countries of labour inputs, albeit they provide data under the same concept, measures of employment in terms of persons or hours worked may substantially differ from country to country depending on the estimation method or the data sources available (census, surveys, administrative registers).
These effects may have a different impact for different units of measure presented i.e. levels might be non-comparable, while growth rates (or indexes) tend to soften the effects of such factors in the long run.
CAPIs, are not provided in levels due to methodological differences in calculating capital stocks. However, data are comparable across countries in terms of growth rates. Further efforts are currently undertaken to analyse and assess differences in the assumptions for deriving capital stocks in the individual countries.
15.2. Comparability - over time
According to ESA 2010 transmission program, countries provide time series of indicators to build LPIs back to reference years 2000 (regional) and even 1995 (national). Beyond methodological factors that might produce breaks in the series, the main constraint to over time comparisons of LPIs is the price dynamics. Nominal figures can play a major role biasing the analysis. Therefore, growth and trends analysis should preferably be performed using chain-linked volumes.
According to ESA 2010 transmission Program, countries provide time series of indicators to build CAPIs back to reference year 1995 for most of the Member States. CAPIs are based mainly on capital stocks in CLV. However, capital stock data in chain-linked volumes are not transmitted by countries and therefore have to be calculated from data in current and previous year replacement costs.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Other methodological issues may lead to comparability distortions in terms of industry breakdowns or regional data, while this does not occur for the whole economy or national. Among them we can highlight:
According to ESA 2010, persons are only recorded in their main activity. This avoids double counting the same person in different industries and ensures that the sum of persons across industries matches the persons of the whole economy. However, this affects comparability of LPIs based in persons at the industry level across countries if the share of workers in secondary activities in the industry is heterogeneous. This problem doesn’t occur for indicators based on hours worked.
When narrowing down the geographical framework from NUTS0 to NUTS2 and NUTS3, the comparability of labour input data across regions is problematic as place of residence and place of work may not coincide. This effect has a larger impact in, mainly, borderline, peripheral and capital regions. The narrower the geographical breakdown, the larger the effect.
National LPIs for total economy are essentially consistent as input data reflect ESA2010 definitions. LPIs input data for industry breakdown at national level, when aggregation is possible, generally add up to the reported totals. Regional data is broadly coherent with national accounts figures when they are released. The internal coherence of country’s data transmission is checked during the validation process. Since Member States may revise their figures after the publication of European aggregates, some vintages related differences may be observed with respect to geographical coherence.
National CAPIs for total economy are essentially consistent as input data reflect ESA2010 definitions. Input data for main industry and asset breakdowns at national level, when aggregation is possible, generally add up to the reported totals. The internal coherence of country’s data transmission is checked during the validation process.
Since LPIs and CAPIs are derived by Eurostat based on existing ESA 2010 data transmissions, no additional cost or burden for countries.
17.1. Data revision - policy
All data produced consist of data already disseminated in Eurobase by national accounts. The revision policy is therefore effectively the revision policy of national accounts.
The revision practice effectively corresponds to the revision practice of the national accounts as listed under sub‑concept 17.1 (data revision – policy).
Revisions practices for national accounts are monitored in the annual quality reports.
18.1. Source data
LPIs and CAPIs are based on national accounts series; national compilation sources vary. See also nama10 and reg_eco10.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Member States should transmit national accounts data to Eurostat upon national publication and/or in line with the deadlines specified in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) transmission programme.
18.3. Data collection
Data in ESA 2010 are transmitted via SDMX which introduced standardised codes.
National Accounts combine data from many source statistics. Techniques of data collection vary widely, depending on the compilation approach, the source statistics available, the particular account in the system of accounts, the timeliness of data release and other factors.
18.4. Data validation
Input data used for LPIs and CAPIs undergo a sequence of checks within NSIs. See also nama10.
18.5. Data compilation
Eurostat compiles LPIs and CAPIs based on national accounts data and on harmonised formulae/method.
18.6. Adjustment
No.
No additional comments.
Growth and productivity accounts serve as an important input in the assessments of country-specific developments and policy evaluations. Since detailed information is needed to assess the development of trends in productivity and competitiveness, Eurostat decided to enlarge its publication of growth and productivity indicators in cooperation with experts represented in a Task Force (2018-2021).
Labour productivity indicators (LPIs) are a set of indicators to analyse the use of labour in the production process. Typically, labour productivity is measured as the ratio of an output in real terms (e.g. value added or output in chain-linked volumes) and a labour input (e.g. persons, hours worked). Some additional indicators are also disseminated to support the analysis such as persons employed per capita, compensation per employee, hours worked per person employed or hours worked per capita. Indicators are available for the total economy, by industry and at regional level.
Capital productivity indicators (CAPIs) are a set of indicators to analyse the use of capital in the production process. Typically, capital productivity is measured as the ratio of a measure of output in real terms (e.g. value added or output in chain-linked volumes) to a measure of capital input in real terms (e.g. capital stock in chain-linked volumes or derived capital services). In addition, capital-labour ratios provide more detailed insights concerning the use of capital relative to labour. Changes of these latter indicators are referred to as ‘capital deepening’. The CAPI indicators published by Eurostat are based on net capital stocks. The indicators are available for specific industries and/or asset breakdowns.
Labour and capital productivity indicators at total economy and industry level (nama_10_lpc)
Labour productivity and unit labour costs (nama_10_lp_ulc)
Labour productivity and unit labour costs at industry level (nama_10_lp_a21)
Capital stock based productivity indicators at industry level (nama_10_cp_a21)
Labour Productivity at regional level (nama_10r_lp)
Nominal Labour productivity by NUTS 2 regions (nama_10r_2nlp)
Nominal Labour productivity by NUTS 3 regions (nama_10r_3nlp)
Real Labour productivity by NUTS 2 regions (nama_10r_2rlp)
Compensation per employee and hours worked per employed person by NUTS 2 regions and by industry (nama_10r_2lp10)
Please note that all indicators included in this collection are calculated by Eurostat based on the regular set of National Accounts data transmitted by Member States under the European System of Accounts 2010 Transmission Programme (ESA 2010 TP). While users could already use published data to derive productivity indicators on their own, the Eurostat selection aims to offer a selection of ready-to-use indicators with explanatory metadata.
The use of national accounts data and the harmonised derivation methods by Eurostat are aimed to increase transparency and cross-country comparability. However, users should be aware that there are different sets of productivity indicators published by the countries or other international organisations that may use partly different sources or more sophisticated methods like adjustments in labour quality or derivation of capital services. While these can be more suited for specific analysis, users are invited to consult the metadata published with the respective indicators to be aware about specific sources, methods and/or assumptions used.
7 January 2025
The LPIs derived from National Accounts data provided by Member States are calculated on an annual basis for total of the economy (which includes market and non-market sectors), and (when possible) for various breakdowns, by economic activity (ranging from total economy to industry breakdowns in NACE Rev.2), and by regional disaggregation (from national to regional level in NUTS).
Its main constituting inputs are: GDP, GVA for industry/regional breakdowns, compensation of employees, population, employment and hours worked.
The key concepts specific to LPIs cover the following definitions:
Compensation per employee
D1_SAL_PER=Compensation of employees (D.1) divided by Number of Employees (PER_SAL).
Compensation of employees per hour worked
D1_SAL_HW=Compensation of employees (D.1) divided by total hours worked by employees (HW_SAL).
Real labour productivity per person employed
RLPR_PER=GDP in volume terms (real) divided by total employment (employees and self-employed). GDP is used for total of the economy, while GVA is used for industry breakdowns.
Real labour productivity per hour worked
RLPR_HW=GDP in volume terms (real) divided by total hours worked by employees and self-employed (HW_EMP). For total of the economy GDP is used. However, for industry breakdowns, industry GVA replaces GDP.
Nominal unit labour cost based on persons
NULC_PER=Compensation per employee (D1_SAL_PER) divided by Real labour productivity per person employed (RLPR_PER). Remarks done above for RLPR_PER, when calculated for industry breakdowns, also apply here.
Nominal unit labour cost based on hour worked
NULC_HW=Compensation of employees per hours worked (D1_SAL_HW) divided by Real labour productivity per hour worked (RLPR_HW). Remarks done above for RLPR_HW, when calculated for industry breakdowns, also apply here.
Total employment (persons employed) per capita
EMP_POP=Percentage of total employment (EMP, domestic concept) on total population (POP, national concept).
Hours worked per capita HW_POP=Total hours worked by employees and self-employed (HW_EMP) divided by total of population (POP)
Hours worked per employed person
HW_EMP=Total hours worked by employees and self-employed (HW_EMP) divided by total employment (EMP)
Nominal labour productivity per person employed
NLPR_EMP=GDP at current prices (nominal) divided by total employment (EMP)
Nominal labour productivity per hour worked
NLPR_HW=GDP at current prices (nominal) divided by total hours worked by employees and self-employed (HW_EMP).
The availability of indicators will differ by territorial breakdown and industry breakdown. The overview table with provided indicators is presented in the LPIs metadata.
LPIs addressing total of the economy scope include all market and non-market industries. LPI for total of the economy, such as real labour productivity or nominal unit labour cost use GDP, whereas these indicators broken down by industry are calculated basing on GVA instead of GDP.
Some of the LPIs are not made available for all NACE breakdowns and regional breakdown due to some limitations that concern their comparability and usability. Unavailable breakdowns are due to three main reasons :
the non-availability of population by industry;
employees with multiple jobs are only accounted in the industry of the main job, so the indicators by industry based on employment are mainly provided per hours worked.
the not availability of data (real GDP, compensation of employees…) at NUT3 levels.
CAPIs derived from National Accounts data provided by Member States are calculated on an annual basis for various breakdowns, by economic activity (total economy or NACE Rev. 2, A21) and by asset type (total fixed assets or main asset types, section 3.2).
The main constituting inputs are: net fixed assets (capital stock), gross value added and employment (persons employed and hours worked).
Net Capital stock is the sum of the written-down values of all the fixed assets still in use. It can also be described as the difference between gross capital stock and consumption of fixed capital. (see OECD glossary of statistical terms).
In summary the key concepts specific to CAPIs cover the following definitions:
Gross value added per unit of net fixed assets
GVA_NCS=Real value added (GVA in CLV) divided by real net fixed asset (NxxN in CLV)
Net fixed assets to gross value added
NCS_GVA=Real net fixed asset (NxxN in CLV) divided by real value added (GVA in CLV)
Net fixed assets per employed person
NCS_EMP=Real net fixed asset (NxxN in CLV) divided by persons employed (EMP)
Net fixed assets per hour worked
NCS_HW=Real net fixed asset (NxxN in CLV) divided by hours worked
The availability of indicators will differ by industry breakdown and by asset type. The overview table with provided indicators is presented in the CAPIs metadata).
CAPIs addressing total of the economy scope include all market and non-market industries.
The units used in the national accounts data published by Eurostat are, in principle, the local KAU or the institutional unit as defined in ESA2010. This is the case for both the country data received, and for the euro area and EU aggregates compiled by Eurostat. However, deviations might occur where the units used in the received country data are not fully compliant with the ESA 2010 guidelines. For information on statistical unit refer to nama10.
The national accounts population of a country consists of all resident statistical units (institutional units or local KAUs, see section 3.5). A unit is a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of predominant economic interest on the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (one year or more) in economic activities on this territory. For more information on statistical population see nama10.
Eurostat publishes productivity indicators for EU Member States, Iceland, Switzerland, Norway and enlargement countries if data are available. For CAPIs the EU-27 aggregates (or the euro area aggregates) are not yet available since aggregates for capital stocks have not yet been published.
EU Member States and EFTA countries have legal obligations to submit their data to Eurostat as defined in the European System of Accounts ESA 2010 transmission programme of data.
The reference period is the calendar year, with temporal coverage varying across geographical units. More information in nama10 and in reg_eco10.
Eurostat assesses the accuracy of national data by systematically applying validation checks to all national accounts transmissions of countries. Accuracy of national accounts estimates is analysed in terms of revisions. For more information see Section 13 of nama10 and of reg_eco10.
The LPIs encompass a range of unit measures that include current prices (Euro, National currency, Purchasing Power Standard), volume (Chain-linked volumes CLV), as well as specific units for persons, employment and hours worked (thousands, THS; millions, M). LPIs are also expressed in terms of transformations of these units (ratios, indexes and percentage changes). Please note that series are not available for all transformations: for instance, growth rates are only used for real rates and not nominal rates to avoid the distortion effects of price changes in the evolution of LPIs.
Basic units of measure
Current prices (CP) figures are typically expressed in (millions of) national currency (NAC) and euro (EUR). They can be directly observed but include inflation effects.
National currency series (CP_MNAC) (including current prices euro series for euro area Member States) are transmitted by Member states and correspond to nationally published figures. They are suitable for studying the development of a variable in a single country over time.
Euro series (CP_MEUR) are derived from transmitted national currency series using historic exchange rates. They are suitable for international comparison and aggregation. When comparing them over time, exchange rate effects should be taken into account.
For euro area Member States, the national currency series are converted into euros using the irrevocably fixed exchange rate. This preserves the same growth rates than for the previous national currency series. Both series coincide for years after accession to the euro area but differ for earlier years due to market exchange rate movements.
Volume figures show the development of aggregates excluding inflation. They are typically presented as chain-linked volumes, indices or various growth rates.
Population, employment and hours worked figures are crucial for the definition of LPIs. They help comparisons between countries, or between industries or sectors within the same economy.
They are typically expressed in thousands of their respective units (e.g. persons, hours). For this purpose, definitions of population and labour inputs must be consistent with the ESA concepts.
Total population of a country consists of all persons, national or foreign, who are permanently settled in the economic territory of the country, even if they are temporarily absent from it. For an annual estimation of the population an annual average of head counts will provide an appropriate basis for estimating national accounts variables (THS_PER).
Employment covers all persons engaged in productive activity that falls within the production boundary of the national accounts. Persons in employment are employees or self-employed persons (THS_EMP).
Total hours worked represents the aggregate number of hours actually worked as an employee or self-employed person during the accounting period, when their output is within the production boundary (THS_HW).
Derived units of measure
From magnitudes expressed in the above basic units of measure, a set of transformations is carried out to derive LPIs. Beyond the indicator definition (see section 3.4), according to the transformation involved in its definition they are usually expressed in the following units:
Current prices transformations to account for purchasing power parities
Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) (CP_MPPS) are fictive 'currency' units that remove differences in purchasing power, i.e. different price levels between countries. These parities are obtained as a weighted average of relative price ratios in respect to a homogeneous basket of goods and services, both comparable and representative for each country. They are fixed in a way that makes the average purchasing power of one euro in the European Union (or Euro Area) equal to one PPS. PPS series should be used for cross-country comparisons in a specific year but do not for comparisons over time since they do not constitute time series.
Percentages with respect to EU aggregates
To facilitate the comparisons between countries, data are expressed in percent relative of the EU aggregate, e.g. using euro (PC_EU27_MEUR_CP) or purchasing power standards (PC_EU27_MPPS_CP).
Volume and index series
Chain-linked volume series obtained by successively applying previous year's price's growth rates to the current price figure of a specific reference year e.g. 2010 (CLV10_MNAC, CLV10_MEUR).
Chain-linking involves the loss of additivity for all years except the reference year and the directly following year, because these are the only periods expressed in prices of the reference year. For other years, chain-linked components of GDP will not sum to chain-linked GDP, and chain-linked Member States' GDP will not sum to chain-linked EU GDP.
Index series of chain-linked volume series (CLV_I10, CLV_I15) are derived by successively applying previous year's price's growth rates to an index value 100 in the reference year. The index growth rates are equal to the growth rates of the underlying volume series used to build the index.
Index series are also calculated for physical LPIs not affected by price changes (I10, I15), such persons employed per capita, labour utilisation or hours worked per employed person. The index growth rates are equal to the growth rates of the underlying physical series used to build the index.
The index growth rates are equal to the growth rates of the underlying physical series used to build the index.
Growth rates are derived from the indexed series or the underlying series used to build the index, as mentioned above (they all give the same growth rates irrespectively of the currency denominated since the exchange rate is "fixed" to the one in the reference year).
PCH_PRE represents the % change over the previous period. In the case of annual data, such as LPIs, this is the % change with respect to the previous year.
PCH_#Y, represents the % change over longer number of periods, usually 3, 5 or 10 years (e.g. PCH_3Y, PCH_5Y, PCH_10Y). Some time series of LPIs are affected by a larger volatility depending on the estimation methods of the underlying indicators. Longer period growth rates are especially relevant for productivity analysis as it is often related to structural factors, but also note that those tend to mitigate this volatility as the construction method affects more short-run volatility but to a lesser extent the average growth in the long run.
CAPIs encompass a range of indicators that are based on net capital stocks expressed in chain-linked volumes (CLV), persons employed, and hours worked (in thousands). CAPIs are then expressed in terms of transformations of these units (index and percentage change for various time periods: percentage change on previous period, percentage change for three years, percentage change for five years, percentage change for ten years).
No level indicators are provided due to comparability issues (see section 15).
Inputs for calculating CAPIs are usually expressed in the following units:
Stock of net fixed assets in chain-linked volumes (2015), million units of national currency CLV15_MNAC).
Data are taken from the official transmissions of Member States to Eurostat under the ESA2010 Transmission Programme in current and previous year replacement costs, from which Eurostat calculates capital stock data in chain-linked volumes, applying the formula described in CAPIs metadata.
Employment covers all persons engaged in some productive activity (within the production boundary of the national accounts). The CAPIs are calculated on the base of two measures of employment:
Employed persons: either employees (working by agreement for a resident unit and receiving remuneration) or self-employed (owners of unincorporated enterprises) (THS_PER)
Total hours worked represents the aggregate number of hours actually worked as an employee or self-employed person during the accounting period, when their output is within the production boundary (THS_HW).
CAPIs are usually expressed in the following units:
Index: base year 2015
Growth rates: Growth rates are derived from the indexed series.
PCH_PRE represent the percentage change over the previous period (year).
PCH_#Y represent the percentage change over longer number of periods, usually 3, 5, or 10 years (PCH_3Y, PCH_5Y, PCH_10Y).
Eurostat compiles LPIs and CAPIs based on national accounts data and on harmonised formulae/method.
LPIs and CAPIs are based on national accounts series; national compilation sources vary. See also nama10 and reg_eco10.
The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) transmission programme.
Annual data underlying LPIs for GVA and employment are requested by t+9/21 months
National accounts aggregates by industry (up to NACE A*64) (nama_10_a64)
National accounts employment data by industry (up to NACE A*64) (nama_10_a64_e)
Annual data underlying CAPIs for GVA and employment are requested by t+9/21 months
National accounts aggregates by industry (up to NACE A*64) (nama_10_a64)
National accounts employment data by industry (up to NACE A*64) (nama_10_a64_e)
Net fixed assets data are due after T+24 months (nama_10_nfa)
Cross-classification of fixed assets by industry and by asset (stocks) (nama_10_nfa_st)
Member States are required to transmit their data to Eurostat in compliance with the European System of Accounts ESA 2010 transmission programme.
LPIs can present comparability issues across countries and regions depending on a set of factors concerning the input data used to compute the indicators:
Differential price dynamics for nominal data: comparison of nominal productivity growth across geographical areas is misleading since inflation levels are likely to be different. Nominal indicators should be compared with caution.
Direct static comparisons should be performed in PPS to avoid different price levels across countries. Although indicators adjusted and unadjusted for PPS are useful, unadjusted for PPS figures should be compared across countries with caution.
Different methodology across countries of labour inputs, albeit they provide data under the same concept, measures of employment in terms of persons or hours worked may substantially differ from country to country depending on the estimation method or the data sources available (census, surveys, administrative registers).
These effects may have a different impact for different units of measure presented i.e. levels might be non-comparable, while growth rates (or indexes) tend to soften the effects of such factors in the long run.
CAPIs, are not provided in levels due to methodological differences in calculating capital stocks. However, data are comparable across countries in terms of growth rates. Further efforts are currently undertaken to analyse and assess differences in the assumptions for deriving capital stocks in the individual countries.
According to ESA 2010 transmission program, countries provide time series of indicators to build LPIs back to reference years 2000 (regional) and even 1995 (national). Beyond methodological factors that might produce breaks in the series, the main constraint to over time comparisons of LPIs is the price dynamics. Nominal figures can play a major role biasing the analysis. Therefore, growth and trends analysis should preferably be performed using chain-linked volumes.
According to ESA 2010 transmission Program, countries provide time series of indicators to build CAPIs back to reference year 1995 for most of the Member States. CAPIs are based mainly on capital stocks in CLV. However, capital stock data in chain-linked volumes are not transmitted by countries and therefore have to be calculated from data in current and previous year replacement costs.
