Productivity falls in finance while construction thrives

Friday 05 October 2018

Jersey latest official stats show that productivity in financial services fell by 3% in 2017, while the construction sector recorded a 5% increase.

The figures come in the latest Statistics Jersey report into the make-up of the island's economy and the gross value added (GVA) by each sector.

Construction, which enjoyed heightened productivity levels, saw the largest overall growth of 9%.

Agriculture, utilities (electricity, gas and water) and transport, storage and communication also saw increased productivity in 2017.

Measured by the economic output per employee, productivity is one of the main drivers of living standards in Jersey. It also defines how heavily the island relies on non-local workers. Between 2016 and 2017, it fell by 2%, with manufacturing, hospitality, financial services and the private sector service industries seeing reduced productivity.

At a sectoral level, construction recorded the strongest real-term growth in 2017. In contrast, financial services, hotels, restaurants and bars together with manufacturing all saw GVA decline in real terms. Read the full report: https://t.co/fEplXkK4yr pic.twitter.com/7OpvIMfsrB

— Statistics Jersey (@JsyStats) October 3, 2018

Both the total Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) were "essentially unchanged" compared to 2016, with an increase of 0.4%. The finance sector accounted for two-fifths (40%) of the total GVA and for almost half (47%) of all economic activity, excluding the rental income of private households. It was however the construction sector and the private sector service industries, which recorded real-term increases of £26 million and £17 million, respectively, who were behind the upward change in GVA.

The average economic standard of living of Jersey residents, as measured by GDP per head of population, decreased by almost 1% in 2017 as the total economic output was less than the increase in the resident population. It stood at £40,790 in 2017, almost a quarter higher than in the UK and 20% than in Guernsey, where it stood at £49,040.