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This chart ranks countries by GDP per hour worked, or their labor productivity. Data is sourced from the International Labour Organization, as of 2023.

Labor productivity measures the amount of output (GDP) produced per unit of labor (hours worked) over a specific time period.

It’s measured in International dollars (Int$), a hypothetical currency used to compare the purchasing power of different countries by adjusting for price differences.

This helps evaluate GDP relative to labor input and offers insights into human capital efficiency and production quality. In the long term, increasing productivity is key to economic growth.

Where Workers of the World Are Most Efficient

Workers in Luxembourg are nearly 3x more productive than in Qatar, due to the country’s strong financial services sector, which generates significant output with relatively fewer people.

Nine out of the first 10 countries ranked on this list are located in Europe, with Singapore the only outlier.

Europeans work fewer hours than American workers to achieve similar output levels on a per capita basis. Many rich European countries also have smaller populations, with workers concentrated in high-value-added industries (like financial services or energy), which contribute to higher per capita rates.

Relatedly, the EU also implements strong worker protections and has some of the highest mandatory paid time off days, which may help work-life balance and productivity.

However, how the data is sliced can change these rankings. For example, in 2022 a German working hour was 1% more productive than a U.S. working hour, however a German employee produced 20% less than an American employee over the course of the year.

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