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National Productivity Board - Annual report 2024
Productivity growth is crucial. Indeed, not only is it an important factor for the growth of real incomes, but, as the main determinant of economic growth, productivity growth also means that many of the challenges we face today are easier to bear financially. One obvious example is the budgetary cost of ageing population. With an increase in average annual labour productivity growth from 1.2 % to 1.3 %, the budgetary cost of ageing would fall by 0.6 pp of GDP over the period 2023-20701. Furthermore, large-scale investments are also needed to adapt to climate change and the climate transition, and other societal challenges that are emerging in, e.g., the areas of mobility, social cohesion, new developments in health care, geopolitical developments, defence, etc. These challenges require additional resources/investments, both private and public, which without economic growth could only be financed by a decline in consumption and/or would put further pressure on the sustainability of public finances.
The present report looks at the state of play of productivity growth in Belgium and focuses on two levers that are important to boost productivity growth.
Read moreNational Productivity Board - Annual report 2022
Productivity growth is the most important driver of long-term income growth, which in turn determines not only the evolution of living standards but also the scope for a government to pursue policy. The financial sustainability of government finances is significantly affected by the rate of income growth.
The current energy crisis shows how important it is for the government to retain this scope for policy not only from an economic perspective, but also to respond to the social and environmental challenges we face. In addition to responding to the short-term challenges, it is therefore important for policy to ensure that productivity growth, already weak before the crisis, is boosted rather than exacerbated in the longer term.
Read moreNational Productivity Board - Annual report 2021
The increase in productivity is an essential factor of economic growth and, consequently, constitutes an essential condition for improved living standards, even if it is not sufficient on its own. Increasing productivity and economic growth also allow for necessary political flexibility needed to achieve a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient economy, particularly amidst the backdrop of a crisis.
The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on productivity growth, estimated on the basis of preliminary data, has been positive. However, the slowdown caused by the economic and financial downturn in 2008 has yet to be turned around. Consequently, the National Productivity Board (NPB) stresses the importance of entrepreneurial dynamism and innovation to stimulate productivity growth. The challenge consists in aligning policies with these two levers to support economic growth post-COVID-19 and to ensure greater economic resilience. In 2021, the NPB also conducted an assessment of the Recovery and Resilience Plan and its impact on productivity growth.
Read moreNational Productivity Board - Annual report 2020
This report was closed on 21 October 2020. As such, neither the start of the second wave of the COVID-19 virus nor the new health and economic policies that followed were taken into account.
Read moreNational Productivity Board - Annual report
This document constitutes the first report by the NPB. Having defined and explained the concepts of “competitiveness” and “productivity growth” in section 1, section 2 reviews Belgium’s performance in this area. Finally, section 3 gives an overview of the factors that have an impact on productivity growth.
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