Northern Ireland economic productivity down by 2%

The productivity of Northern Ireland's economy fell by 2% in 2018, official figures suggest.

Productivity measures the amount of economic output generated by each worker.

In the long term, rising living standards are dependent on rising productivity.

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, suggest that only the Yorkshire and Humber region had a worse performance.

Northern Ireland is consistently one of the least productive regions of the UK.

Its output per hour in 2018 was 15.6% below the UK average in 2018, third from bottom among the 12 UK regions.

The UK average is skewed by the performance of London which is hugely more productive than any other region.

Reasons for Northern Ireland's persistently low productivity include low rates of investment and a relatively low skilled workforce.

In the UK as a whole, productivity growth has been exceptionally weak in the years since the financial crisis.