Xero has released a special report titled, ‘Small Business Productivity: Trends, Implications, and Strategies’, looking at the current state of small business labour productivity across AU, NZ and the UK.
Based on anonymised and aggregated data from 240,000+ Xero small business customers, it found that while Australian small business labour productivity is keeping pace with national productivity growth (suggesting they are competing with their big business counterparts), it remains below pre-pandemic levels.
Key insights from the Xero Small Business Insights (XBSI) special report, include:
-
There was a noticeable productivity slowdown in December 2023, dropping to $100.30/hour, near pre-pandemic levels.
-
Productivity plunged to $89.90/hour in May 2020 due to temporary business closures and disruptions, with a peak of $110.40/hour in November 2022.
-
From January 2017 to December 2023, New Zealand small businesses consistently led in productivity, followed by Australia and the UK.
