Productivity in Western European countries 1913-1990s

On the eve of the First World War in 1913, the United Kingdom was the only major Western European economy with productivity rates similar to the United States, although U.S. GDP per hour worked was still 14 percent higher. Across Western Europe, average productivity was below 60 percent of the U.S.' rate in 1914. By the end of the Second World War's recovery period in 1950, the U.S. had actually widened this gap, as it did not experience the same level of destruction that was felt across most of Western Europe, and economic output was not affected in this way. By the end of the century however, the economies of Western Europe had largely caught up with the U.S. in terms of productivity, with France even exceeding the U.S.' rate by two percent. Of the major economies in Western Europe, the United Kingdom went from having the highest productivity rates in 1913 and 1950, to having the lowest in the 1990s.