New insights from the OECD reveal that regional productivity can vary significantly within countries, often more than between different countries. For instance, the most productive regions in countries with lower average labour productivity can often match or even surpass the productivity levels of middle- or high-productivity countries.
An example the OECD highlights is that of the city of Warsaw, which together with its surrounding regions has around the same productivity level as the national average in Belgium, the second most productive country out of the 23 OECD countries included in the analysis.
The US and the UK show the widest regional disparity in labour productivity levels. In the United States the its most productive region achieved over USD 271,564 in 2019, compared to its least productive at USD 73,810.
The OECD analysis is performed at the TL3 administrative level, the most detailed regional level in OECD’s classification. Note that the national average is calculated by weighting regions according to employment.