This paper offers an overview of developments in household debt over the past decades across a large sample of OECD countries, highlighting both common trends and country specificities. It examines the vulnerabilities associated with high household debt for households, the financial system and the wider economy.

Policymakers need to deploy broad-based reform plans that incorporate monetary, fiscal, and structural policies to stimulate persistently weak demand, re-launch productivity growth, create jobs and build a more inclusive global economy, according to the OECD’s annual Going for Growth report.

Norway’s predominately public and tuition-fee free tertiary education system encourages participation and has high attainment rates. However, challenges in spending efficiency, study times, skills demand, inclusiveness and quality remain.

The Hungarian economy has expanded strongly in recent years, helped by robust exports and firm domestic demand. But incomes are among the lowest in the OECD and structural reforms will be needed to sustain growth over the medium term, strengthen business investment and better match skills to labour market needs, according to a new OECD report.

Denmark’s economic prospects are improving, but further reforms are needed to maintain the country’s high living standards and ensure the well-being of all citizens, according to a new report from the OECD.

Korea needs to boost productivity, increase employment and stoke economic activity as part of efforts to reverse current trends toward slower growth and low inflation, according to a new report from the OECD.

Declining productivity growth and rising inequality are two of the biggest obstacles to improved economic performance, according to a new OECD report.

The global economy is stuck in a low-growth trap that will require more coordinated and comprehensive use of fiscal, monetary and structural policies to move to a higher growth path and ensure that promises are kept to both young and old, according to the OECD’s latest Global Economic Outlook.

The Czech Republic needs new reforms to boost productivity, improve economic growth and accelerate convergence toward the levels of income and well-being seen in the most advanced European countries, according to a new OECD report.

The Canadian economy is adjusting to the fall in commodity prices, but additional policies are needed to boost productivity, reduce financial stability risks and make future growth stronger, greener and more inclusive, according to a new OECD report.

The US economy is making one of the strongest comebacks in the OECD, but there are risks on the horizon, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of the United States.

Improving opportunities for women in the United States

The German economy has steadily recovered from the 2008 global crisis. Thanks to past reforms, the labour market has proved strong and export performance has been impressive.

Norway’s predominately public and tuition-free tertiary education system has encouraged participation and generated high attainment rates. However, few Norwegian universities rank high in international comparisons on the basis of research related and other indicators.

Costa Rica’s economic, social and environmental achievements are impressive. It has succeeded in combining rising living standards, virtually universal health care, pension and primary education systems with sustainable use of natural resources.

Middle Eastern and North African countries should press ahead with further economic and structural reforms to boost flagging trade and investment, restore public trust and create jobs for the region’s young population, the OECD told ministers from the region today.

Productivity growth has been sluggish since the Great Recession and had been slowing before it.

Measures that enable the acquisition of new skills and reduce mismatches between the demand and supply of existing skills can boost US economic growth and make its benefits more inclusive.

Costa Rican well-being indicators are comparable or even above the OECD average in several dimensions (OECD, 2016a). Nevertheless, gaps with OECD countries are large in two dimensions: labour market participation and education.

Economic and social reforms undertaken over the past two decades have driven Peruvian efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth and important reductions in poverty. Against a context of weak global growth, Peru will need to diversify its economy, boost skills, reinforce productivity across the labour force and unleash the potential of all regions in order to spur more inclusive national growth.

Labour market mobility in the European Union is increasing, but it remains too low to provide sufficient adjustment in the face of diverging labour market developments.

With the global economy mired in low-growth and no signs of strong acceleration, a lot of attention has been paid to the meagre pace of productivity growth in OECD countries.

In the United States, the most watched indicator of productivity (nonfarm business productivity growth) decelerated about ¾ percentage point from 2009 to 2014 relative to the preceding 5-year period.

OECD annual inflation picks up to 1.4% in October 2016, driven by energy prices

This study explores the effectiveness of the incentive mechanisms embedded within the UK’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) for banks’ to expand their supply of lending to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

A policy framework that does not unduly inhibit the creative destruction process is vital to sustaining productivity growth. Yet, a key question is what happens to workers who lose their jobs due to this process and what are the policies that minimise the costs of worker displacement?

This study explores the effectiveness of the incentive mechanisms embedded within the UK’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) for banks’ to expand their supply of lending to medium sized enterprises (SMEs)

What happens to workers who lose their jobs due to firm exit – how quickly are they re-employed and what are the policies that can aid this process?

Ambitious structural reforms and sound macroeconomic policies have strengthened the resilience of the Mexican economy despite a complex national scenario and challenging global conditions, but more can be done to boost productivity and ensure that growth is inclusive enough to achieve better living conditions for all, according to a new report from the OECD.

The government has put a heavy emphasis on improving the business climate, thereby promoting a competitive, innovative and dynamic private business sector.

Rising energy prices push OECD annual inflation to 1.8% in December 2016

The Portuguese economy is gradually recovering from a deep recession thanks to a broad structural reform agenda that has led to rising economic growth, falling unemployment and remarkable progress in export performance.

The Swedish economy is growing strongly, with unemployment trending downward and living standards among the highest in the world. Maintaining today’s high levels of well-being and addressing new challenges will require further actions to ensure inclusive, resilient and green growth for all, according to a new report from the OECD.

Portugal’s economy has successfully recovered from the strong recession that lasted until 2014. Nonetheless, the economy’s still low investment, which has declined far more than in other Euro area countries, remains a source of concern.

Equality, a long-standing hallmark of Swedish society, carries multiple benefits in terms of economic performance, trust, opportunity and well-being.

Sweden ranks among the OECD’s frontrunners in terms of gender equality. Women have a high employment rate, outperform men in education and are well represented in government and parliament.

The Indian economy is expanding at a fast pace, boosting living standards and reducing poverty nationwide. Further reforms are now necessary to maintain strong growth and ensure that all Indians benefit from it, according to a new report from the OECD.

Sharp rise in energy prices pushes OECD annual inflation up to 2.3% in January 2017

Governments must deploy policy packages that take advantage of the synergies between labour, product and financial market reforms to escape the low-growth trap and ensure that benefits are broadly shared by the vast majority of citizens, according to the OECD’s annual Going for Growth report.

Poverty has risen in Spain in the wake of the crisis, mainly due to lack of quality jobs that provide enough hours of paid work to support decent incomes.

Labour productivity in Japan is about a quarter below the average of the top half of OECD countries, which is surprising given Japan's outstanding performance in education and skills and high level of R&D spending.

OECD annual inflation slows to 2.3% in March 2017, driven by energy prices

The paper describes revisions to the trend labour efficiency component of the production function underpinning long-term economic scenarios.

The slowdown in productivity growth - already underway before the crisis – combined with sluggish investment, continued to undermine rises in economic output and material living standards in recent years in many of the world’s economies, according to a new report released today by the OECD.

Almost 10 years after the outset of the financial crisis in summer 2008, European growth remains modest, constantly underperforming the OECD average.

OECD annual inflation nudges up to 2.4% in April 2017

The global economy is expected to pick up moderately but greater efforts are needed to ensure that the benefits from growth and globalisation are more widely shared, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook.

A combination of market-based policies and a redistributive welfare state have boosted Belgium’s per-capita GDP to well above the average of OECD countries and raised well-being, according to a new OECD report.

Sweden is an egalitarian society in international comparison, and has managed to combine equity with economic efficiency.

Sweden ranks among the best OECD countries in terms of gender equality.