GDP per hour worked is a measure of labour productivity. It measures how efficiently labour input is combined with other factors of production and used in the production process. Labour input is defined as total hours worked of all persons engaged in production. Labour productivity only partially reflects the productivity of labour in terms of the personal capacities of workers or the intensity of their effort. The ratio between the output measure and the labour input depends to a large degree on the presence and/or use of other inputs (e.g. capital, intermediate inputs, technical, organisational and efficiency change, economies of scale). This indicator is measured in USD (constant prices 2010 and PPPs) and indices.

Labour productivity growth is a key dimension of economic performance and an essential driver of changes in living standards. Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita can be broken down into growth in labour productivity, measured as growth in GDP per hour worked, and changes in the extent of labour utilisation, measured as changes in hours worked per capita. High labour productivity growth can reflect greater use of capital, and/or a decrease in the employment of low-productivity workers, or general efficiency gains and innovation.

Labour compensation per hour worked is defined as compensation of employees in national currency divided by total hours worked by employees. Compensation of employees is the sum of gross wages and salaries and employers' social security contributions. This indicator is measured in terms of annual growth rates and indices.

Multifactor productivity (MFP) reflects the overall efficiency with which labour and capital inputs are used together in the production process. Changes in MFP reflect the effects of changes in management practices, brand names, organizational change, general knowledge, network effects, spillovers from production factors, adjustment costs, economies of scale, the effects of imperfect competition and measurement errors. Growth in MFP is measured as a residual, i.e. that part of GDP growth that cannot be explained by changes in labour and capital inputs. In simple terms therefore, if labour and capital inputs remained unchanged between two periods, any changes in output would reflect changes in MFP. This indicator is measured as an index and in annual growth rates.

Unit labour costs are often viewed as a broad measure of (international) price competitiveness. They are defined as the average cost of labour per unit of output produced. They can be expressed as the ratio of total labour compensation per hour worked to output per hour worked (labour productivity). This indicator is measured in percentage changes and indices.

Labour productivity is defined as real gross domestic product (GDP) per hour worked. This captures the use of labour inputs better than just output per employee, with labour input defined as total hours worked by all persons involved. The data are derived as average hours worked multiplied by the corresponding and consistent measure of employment for each particular country. Forecast is based on an assessment of the economic climate in individual countries and the world economy, using a combination of model-based analyses and expert judgement. This indicator is measured as an index with 2010=1.