MEDIA RELEASE
03 December 2018	Embargo: 11:30 am (Canberra Time)

Multifactor productivity (MFP) for the Australian market sector rose 0.5 per cent in 2017-18, which was the lowest MFP growth in five years, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

ABS Chief Economist Bruce Hockman said "the latest MFP and labour productivity was below the long term annual average”.

“The slowdown in productivity growth is partly due to significant variation in productivity across industry groups. While seven industries recorded MFP growth, with administrative and support services (8.2 per cent) the strongest, nine industries recorded a fall. Agriculture, forestry and fishing recorded the largest fall (-7.0 per cent) in 2017-18.”

This release also marks the second year of experimental estimates of state and territory productivity.

“In 2017-18, MFP growth was strongest in the ACT (2.6 per cent), followed by Tasmania (1.4 per cent) while NSW and Victoria recorded negative MFP growth coming off a strong 2016-17 result,” Mr Hockman said.

More information and data are available in Estimates of Industry Multifactor Productivity, 2017-18 (cat no. 5260.0.55.002) on the ABS website at https://www.abs.gov.au.


Media note:

• Productivity is output per unit of input. Growth in productivity may be due to increased output, reduced inputs, or both. The MFP estimates in this publication use Gross Value Added output, while the inputs are labour (hours worked) and capital (capital services). More information in the Frequently Asked Questions section.

• When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.

• For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070 (8.30am - 5pm Mon-Fri).

• Subscribe to our email notification service and get media releases or products sent to you on release.