Productivity gains key to unlocking wealth creation

ASK any group of economists what the key driver of sustained, long-term economic growth is, and the unanimous response will probably be productivity.

But achieving sustained productivity growth is a challenge everywhere – even more so for advanced economies facing a declining workforce. The irony, therefore, is that as the need for such gains increases, the harder it is to achieve.

Between 2010 and 2024, Singapore sustained productivity growth averaging 2.3 per cent a year – one of the highest rates among all advanced economies. We attribute this to the interplay of three factors: industries, technology and people.