Labour productivity in the EU rose by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier.
The increase was the same whether productivity was measured per person employed or per hour worked, Eurostat noted in a release on Friday.
Labour productivity is calculated by combining gross domestic product (GDP) with employment figures to estimate how much output is produced per worker or per hour.
The pace of growth slowed from the previous quarter, after productivity rose by 0.8% per person and 0.7% per hour in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Biggest rises in Denmark, sharp fall in Ireland
Denmark recorded the largest rise in labour productivity per person, up 4.8% compared with the first quarter of 2025, followed by Lithuania at 3.5% and Slovenia at 2.7%, Eurostat informed.
Only Ireland and Italy saw declines on this measure, with labour productivity per person down 16.9% in Ireland and 0.3% in Italy.
Measured per hour worked, Denmark also had the largest increase at 5.1%, followed by Sweden at 3.0% and Poland at 2.8%.
Productivity per hour fell in six EU countries, with the biggest drops in Ireland at 17.1%, Latvia at 1.3% and Czechia at 0.8%.
