International productivity

GDP per capita, hourly labor productivity and TFP (1890-2024)

Productivity
GDP per capita, hourly labor productivity and TFP since 1890 for 24 economies.
Innovation data
Productivity

International productivity

GDP per capita, hourly labor productivity and TFP (1890–2024)

Countries:
Source: Long Term Productivity Database (A. Bergeaud, G. Cette, R. Lecat), version 2.7 (February 2026). GDP per capita and productivity in international dollars at 2020 PPP.

About this tracker

This dashboard shows the evolution of three key indicators of economic performance since 1890 for 24 economies (23 countries + the euro area):

  • GDP per capita : average standard of living (in 2020 PPP $)
  • Hourly labor productivity : value added per hour worked (2020 PPP $ per hour)
  • Total factor productivity (TFP) : combined efficiency of labor and capital

The second chart shows the growth waves : the growth rate filtered with a Hodrick-Prescott filter (λ=500), which isolates the long-run trend of the series.

Authors

This tracker is based on the Long Term Productivity Database developed by:

Methodology

The data come from the Long Term Productivity Database (Bergeaud, Cette & Lecat), which compiles and harmonizes multiple sources:

  • GDP per capita : Maddison Project Database, national accounts
  • Hourly labor productivity : hours worked from national and international sources (OECD, ILO)
  • TFP : computed from a Cobb-Douglas production function with time-varying factor shares
  • Waves : growth rate smoothed with a Hodrick-Prescott filter (λ=500) to isolate the long-run trend

The series cover 24 economies from 1890 to 2024. Methodological breaks between sources are corrected by splicing to ensure the continuity of the series.

Reference

Bergeaud, A., Cette, G. & Lecat, R. (2016). “Productivity Trends in Advanced Countries between 1890 and 2012”. Review of Income and Wealth, 62(3), 420-444.

Update

Data as of October 1, 2026: version 2.7 of the Long Term Productivity Database (February 2026). The tracker is updated with each new version of the database. With version 2.7, levels are expressed in 2020 PPP dollars (instead of 2017 PPP previously) and the series have been revised; recent levels are markedly higher than with version 2.6.