Belgium has a "significant productivity problem", as the National Council on Productivity places it in the second to last position in Europe in its first report, which La Libre and De Tijd were able to access.
Productivity is defined as wealth created per hour worked. It is at a high overall level in Belgium but has remained stagnant.
The country’s general prosperity level has also been slipping. It went from 11th place among OECD countries in 1970 to 13th in 2018.
The causes of the drop in productivity include a decrease in the added value created by business, which is masked by high-performing companies at the international level such as biotech and pharmaceutical enterprises.
Other factors include a relatively low number of working hours per inhabitant, and a lack of entrepreneurial dynamism.
"Any choices not made by the future government to right the situation will be paid for by the population at some point in time,” Luc Denayer, president of the National Council on Productivity, told La Libre.
The Brussels Times
