Introduction
Purpose of the UK Competitiveness Indicators
In
December 1999, the Government published the first ever set of Competitiveness
Indicators for the UK, designed to compare our economic performance with that of
other advanced economies.
The
Competitiveness Indicators are used within Government to help design policies to
drive up productivity and improve prosperity.
The
Indicators provide a framework for highlighting strengths and weaknesses, and
helping identify areas that may need attention by Government.
This
web-site presents the most recent data for the Competitiveness Indicators, and
individual Indicators will be updated whenever new data is published. The most
recent overall assessment of the UK’s performance against the Indicators can
be found at:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/competitiveness/indicators2002/index.htm
Structure of the UK
Productivity and Competitiveness Indicators
The Indicators are
divided into the five drivers of productivity, as set out in the document,
Productivity: The Evidence and the Government’s Approach. The five drivers
are:
·
Investment – measures physical capital and ICT;
·
Innovation – measures of the science base, technology, commercial exploitation of
science and technology, and R&D;
·
Skills –
measures of human capital;
·
Enterprise – measures of
business formation, entrepreneurship and finance; and
·
Competitive Markets – measures of openness, labour market flexibility, regulation and the
institutional environment
Wherever possible, international comparisons are based on the G7 and may
go beyond the G7 where data are available and where other countries have an
interesting story to tell. UK time series data are used as well in order to
provide context. As understanding and measurement techniques
improve, it is likely that new indicators will be generated by academics,
Government or other institutions that could usefully be incorporated into the UK
Competitiveness Indicators.
If you have any comments on
the Competitiveness Indicators you can contact
Last updated on 28 October 2002