Number of the week: Russian workers vie with Greeks in race to productivity abyss

According to the latest data available from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in terms of hours worked Russia trails only Europe’s most indebted nation Greece, with Russians working 1,982 hours per person a year. That may not be much help to the economy.In terms of productivity, measured by gross domestic product per hour worked, Russia is behind every country in Europe with just $25.9. Greece is almost as bad at $36.2, way below the European Union average of $50, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates.The International Monetary Fund, in a staff report issued on Aug. 3, forecast a “muted” recovery in 2016 from Russia’s first recession since 2009 – a 3.4 percent slump this year, according to the Washington-based lender. It put the nation’s medium-term economic growth at 1.5 percent a year.That compares with an average expansion of 7 percent during Vladimir Putin’s first two terms as president in 2000-2008, which coincided with booming oil prices.Photo by Kommersant.

According to the latest data available from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in terms of hours worked Russia trails only Europe’s most indebted nation Greece, with Russians working 1,982 hours per person a year. That may not be much help to the economy.In terms of productivity, measured by gross domestic product per hour worked, Russia is behind every country in Europe with just $25.9. Greece is almost as bad at $36.2, way below the European Union average of $50, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates.The International Monetary Fund, in a staff report issued on Aug. 3, forecast a “muted” recovery in 2016 from Russia’s first recession since 2009 – a 3.4 percent slump this year, according to the Washington-based lender. It put the nation’s medium-term economic growth at 1.5 percent a year.That compares with an average expansion of 7 percent during Vladimir Putin’s first two terms as president in 2000-2008, which coincided with booming oil prices.Photo by Kommersant.

Anna Sorokina
Russians work the second-longest hours in Europe after Greece. It may not be a race worth winning

According to the latest data available from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in terms of hours worked Russia trails only Europe’s most indebted nation Greece, with Russians working 1,982 hours per person a year. That may not be much help to the economy.

In terms of productivity, measured by gross domestic product per hour worked, Russia is behind every country in Europe with just $25.9. Greece is almost as bad at $36.2, way below the European Union average of $50, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates.

The International Monetary Fund, in a staff report issued on Aug. 3, forecast a “muted” recovery in 2016 from Russia’s first recession since 2009 – a 3.4 percent slump this year, according to the Washington-based lender. It put the nation’s medium-term economic growth at 1.5 percent a year.

That compares with an average expansion of 7 percent during Vladimir Putin’s first two terms as president in 2000-2008, which coincided with booming oil prices.

Photo by Kommersant.

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