The growth of services in developed market-economy countries

The past quarter century has seen a marked rise in output per capita in developed market-economy countries. Although growth has proceeded somewhat differently in each economy, an important characteristic common to all is the significant rise in the share of output and employment accounted for by the services sector. It was the rapid increase in employment in services that first drew attention to the structural changes taking place. By 1985 even the most conservative estimates showed that, for the 10 OECD countries ranking highest in terms of 1985 shares of employment in services, the average share had risen from below one half in 1960 to two-thirds in 1985; among the 10 lowest ranking OECD countries, the average share rose from below 40 to over 55 per cent.

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