Productivity in Europe rebounds from Covid in 2022, but not in Portugal

  • ECO News
  • 25 November 2021

"In 2022, productivity per person is forecast to be above its 2019 level in all Member States, except in Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Spain," the European Commission announced on Wednesday.

Next year, productivity per worker is expected to be above the 2019 level in all member states except Portugal, Luxembourg, Malta and Spain. This is one of the conclusions of the macroeconomic analysis that the European Commission made in the Autumn package released on Wednesday.

“In 2022, productivity per person is forecast to be above its 2019 level in all Member States, except in Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Spain,” the European Commission announced.

Labour productivity fell in almost all EU countries in 2020, but it is expected to recover this year and next. The fall in labour inputs during the pandemic crisis is explained by “reduced hours, while headcount employment moved little, supported by government measures including expanded short-time work schemes,” the Commission stated.

With the use of such work schemes, labour productivity in Europe has been recovering. However, in the case of Portugal and three other countries, the recovery in productivity will be slower, reaching the pre-crisis level only after 2022.

To accelerate this process, the European Commission puts emphasis on investment that enhances productivity, through the Recovery and resilience Facility (RRF), and focused on the digital and green transition.

Given this panorama, in which the Commission also identifies the high level of public and private debt, as well as the country’s external deficits, the Community executive decided to keep Portugal under surveillance because of macroeconomic imbalances, along with other countries (Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden).