Danish companies' productivity figures surpassed the U.S. and the EU average in the past two years, Ritzau news bureau reported on Wednesday, quoting figures from the international business think tank, Conference Board.

In the past two years, Danish companies made larger productivity gains than those in other countries such as the United States, which is often considered the global leader in productivity, reported daily financial journal Boersen.

Initial calculations for 2005 indicate that productivity in Denmark grew last year by 2.2 percent, which is higher than figures for U.S., EU, and Norwegian companies. In 2004, productivity grew by 3.5 percent.

Strong U.S. productivity gains appeared to be a thing of the past, according to Catherine Guillemineau, who prepared the report about productivity and global competitiveness.

Denmark's gains in productivity in relation to the rest of the EU began after 2000, when Denmark could boast of annual average increase of 1.6 percent compared to the EU's average of only 1 percent, according to the report.

Source: Xinhua