Ranked: Productivity of the World’s Largest 30 Economies (2005-2025)

Key Takeaways

• China’s productivity has surged by about 340% since 2005, driven by rapid industrial upgrades and investment in technology. However, growth has slowed in recent years.
• Ireland’s productivity appears high due to a tax system that lets global tech and pharma firms book profits and intellectual property earnings in the country, even though most of the money goes back to their parent companies.
• Saudi Arabia’s productivity has declined over the past two decades, mainly due to lower oil prices in the mid-2010s and OPEC+ production cuts that limited output. Non-oil sectors are growing, but the economy still depends heavily on hydrocarbons.