Economy

Ranked: Top Countries by GDP per Hour

Published

2 months ago

October 18, 2024

Pallavi Rao

Graphics/Design:

Anna Diederichs

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

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Ranked: Top Countries by GDP per Hour

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

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.

Rank	Country	Region	Int$
1	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	Europe	146
2	🇮🇪 Ireland	Europe	143
3	🇳🇴 Norway	Europe	93
4	🇳🇱 Netherlands	Europe	80
5	🇩🇰 Denmark	Europe	78
6	🇨🇭 Switzerland	Europe	76
7	🇧🇪 Belgium	Europe	75
8	🇦🇹 Austria	Europe	74
9	🇸🇬 Singapore	Asia	74
10	🇸🇪 Sweden	Europe	70
11	🇬🇾 Guyana	Americas	70
12	🇺🇸 U.S.	Americas	70
13	🇫🇮 Finland	Europe	69
14	🇩🇪 Germany	Europe	68
15	🇫🇷 France	Europe	68
16	🇮🇹 Italy	Europe	62
17	🇬🇧 UK	Europe	59
18	🇦🇺 Australia	Oceania	59
19	🇮🇸 Iceland	Europe	58
20	🇮🇱 Israel	Middle East	57
21	🇹🇼 Taiwan	Asia	57
22	🇨🇦 Canada	Americas	57
23	🇪🇸 Spain	Europe	57
24	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	Middle East	53
25	🇶🇦 Qatar	Middle East	53
N/A	🌍 Global Average	N/A	26

Note: Excludes overseas territories and dependencies. Global average calculated from 189 countries.

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.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

This graphic measures productivity, and so closely mirrors The Richest Countries in the World by Three Metrics. See how the rankings change depending on what is being measured.