Modest growth for Italian productivity. In 20 years, between 1992 and 2011, the figure grew by an average of 0,5% per year. This is what emerges from the Istat report "Productivity measures". The sharpest braking was recorded starting from 2003.
In the period 1992-2011, total factor productivity, the one that measures the growth in added value attributable to technical progress and improvements in knowledge and production processes, recorded "an average annual growth of 0,5%, against a average increase of 1,1% in added value and 0,7% in the overall use of capital and labour”.
The dynamics of total factor productivity during the main cyclical phases of the Italian economy "is very similar to that of labor productivity", observes Istat. During the 1993-2003 phase, an average annual growth of 0,7% was observed, while in the following phase the dynamic slowed down markedly, with an average increase of 0,3%.
“This slowdown is the result of the lower growth in value added (+1,4% in the period 2003-2008 and +1,9% in the period 1993-2003) compared to what can be attributed to the joint use of production inputs (1,1 % in the period 2003-2008 and 1,2% in the period 1993-2003)”, explains the Statistical Institute.
In 2009, total factor productivity decreased by 4,9% due to the strong contraction of added value, much higher than that of the total use of production factors (-3,1%). In 2010, the lively growth in added value (+3,2%) was accompanied by a further, albeit modest, decrease in the use of production factors (-0,3%); as a result, total factor productivity increases by 3,5%.
In 2011, the dynamics of total factor productivity returned to modest (+0,4%) due to the weakness of the growth of value added (+0,7%) to which must be added a recovery in the use of production factors (+0,3 %).
