Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly turning to alternative sources of financing, while new bank lending is declining in a number of countries. Many SMEs remain over-reliant on bank credit, however, and the take-up of instruments other than straight debt varies greatly from one country to another, according to a new OECD report.

29/03/2018 - The OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct is seeking candidates for a new Chairs to assist in implementing and promoting the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

OECD 50th Anniversary Conference, Paris, 22 June 2011.

Health spending fell across the European Union in 2010, as cash-strapped governments curbed outlays to help cut budgetary deficits, according to Health at a Glance: Europe 2012, a new joint report by the OECD and the European Commission.

To pursue economic growth, Russia must develop its human capital, which requires structural reforms in education, healthcare and pensions. These, in turn, must respond to major trends in service provision, including the increasing role of individual choice, the need to deliver lifelong learning and healthcare, and the risk that Russians will increasingly buy services abroad, rather than work to develop their own national systems.

Health spending per capita in real terms fell by 2% in Italy in 2011, and is estimated to have fallen by a further 0.4% in 2012. Spending per capita also fell in 10 other European countries between 2009 and 2011, following the recession and the need for fiscal consolidation, according to a new OECD report.

Colombia has significantly improved its health system over the past 20 years, leading to a rise in life expectancy and a fall in infant mortality. To maintain its ambition of universal, high-quality health care, Colombia should now focus on improving efficiency and strengthening financial sustainability, according to a new OECD report.

In the ten years since the introduction of Seguro Popular, some 50 million Mexicans previously at risk of unaffordable health care bills now have access to health insurance. The OECD Review of Health Systems: Mexico 2016 finds that the share of the population exposed to unaffordable or impoverishing health care costs has fallen from 3.3% to 0.8% of the population in the past decade.

This paper looks at recent trends in pharmaceutical spending across OECD countries. It examines the drivers of recent spending trends, highlighting differences across therapeutic classes, and then looks at emerging challenges for policy makers in the management of pharmaceutical spending.

Latvia has successfully consolidated its hospital sector and strengthened primary care since the financial crisis. But persistent barriers to accessing high quality care need to be removed, according to a new OECD report.

Australia’s labour market reforms over the past 15 years have boosted employment and cut welfare benefit dependency.

Global Value Chains (GVCs) are a dominant feature of the world economy that impact growth, jobs and development, but numerous challenges remain to ensure that all countries and all firms have the opportunity to participate and benefit.

The G20 needs to go structural, social, and green! With fiscal and monetary policy room nearly exhausted, structural reforms are the best choices, sometimes the only choice. The OECD battle cry in this regard has been unchanged since 2008: “go structural!”.

Water resources allocation determines who is able to use water resources, how, when and where. Capturing information from 27 OECD countries and key partner economies, the report presents key findings from the OECD Survey of Water Resources Allocation and case studies of successful allocation reform.

This country note provides information on latest trends in income inequalities as well as key findings from the 2015 OECD report "In it Together: Why less inequality benefits all".

In a boost for international efforts to strengthen co-operation against offshore tax evasion, seven new countries have joined the agreement to exchange information automatically under the OECD/G20 standard.

Selected findings for Australia from the report "Preventing Ageing Unequally"

Water resources allocation determines who is able to use water resources, how, when and where. Capturing information from 27 OECD countries and key partner economies, the report presents key findings from the OECD Survey of Water Resources Allocation and case studies of successful allocation reform.

This country note provides information on latest trends in income inequalities as well as key findings from the 2015 OECD report "In it Together: Why less inequality benefits all".

The Japanese economy has gained momentum and is creating jobs, according to a new OECD report. The latest OECD Economic Survey of Japan, presented in Tokyo by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, says that per capita growth rates in recent years have matched those across the OECD – a major improvement. The Survey underlines the key role Abenomics has played in the economic revival.

The fourth annual edition of Revenue Statistics in Asian Countries covers seven countries, including Kazakhstan for the first time. It shows that the tax-to-GDP ratio in all these countries are lower than the OECD average of 34.3% in 2015, which highlights that scope remains for increasing tax mobilisation, especially in Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and the Philippines to achieve sustainable growth.

Selected findings for Japan from the report "Preventing Ageing Unequally"

The digital revolution, globalisation and demographic changes are transforming labour markets at a time when policy makers are also struggling with slow productivity and wage growth and high levels of income inequality. The new OECD Jobs Strategy provides a comprehensive framework and policy recommendations to help countries address these challenges.

Japan must improve job quality and further reform the mandatory retirement age to address upfront the challenges of its rapidly ageing and shrinking labour force, according to a new OECD report.

The Japanese economy is undergoing the longest expansion in its post-war history, marked by strong job creation and business investment. Government policy must overcome the intertwined challenges posed by rapid population ageing and high government debt to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth for future generations, according to a new report from the OECD.

Imports of Chemical & Allied Industries Products in South Africa increased to 9913.50 ZAR Million in March from 9806.22 ZAR Million in February of 2020. Imports of Chemical & Allied Industries Products in South Africa averaged 9515.36 ZAR Million from 2014 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 13357.99 ZAR Million in October of 2018 and a record low of 7160.89 ZAR Million in June of 2014. This page includes a chart with historical data for South Africa Imports of Chemical & Allied Industries Products.

There are few OECD countries where vocational education and training (VET) is held in such high regard or takes so many forms as in Austria. Some 60 percent of young Austrians aged between 25 and 34 have completed a VET course below tertiary level (vocational school or technical college).

Water resources allocation determines who is able to use water resources, how, when and where. Capturing information from 27 OECD countries and key partner economies, the report presents key findings from the OECD Survey of Water Resources Allocation and case studies of successful allocation reform.

The digital revolution, globalisation and demographic changes are transforming labour markets at a time when policy makers are also struggling with slow productivity and wage growth and high levels of income inequality. The new OECD Jobs Strategy provides a comprehensive framework and policy recommendations to help countries address these challenges.

This article summarises discussions from a financial roundtable addressing concerns about structural flaws in the way banks operate and are being regulated and supervised in the wake of on-going banking sector problems involving financial fraud and banking scandals.

Borrowing operations by OECD governments are set to decrease, as their borrowing needs continue to decline, according to a new OECD report. Net borrowing needs are projected to fall from USD 2.0 trillion in 2013 to USD 1.5 trillion in 2014, the lowest level since 2007.

Closing remarks made by the OECD Secretary-General during the Paris Club Forum, organised jointly by the Australian Presidency and the Paris Club.

Malaysia has sustained over four decades of rapid, inclusive growth, reducing its dependence on agriculture and commodity exports to become a more diversified, modern and open economy.

This paper describes and provides guidance on policy and practice relating to financial education for MSMEs and potential entrepreneurs in Asia, with a particular focus on Indonesia.

This report discusses the implications of the digitalisation of finance for financial education and relevant consumer protection issues and provides an overview of digital financial services around the world.

Globalisation has failed to create a level playing field in trade, investment and corporate behaviour, being one of the factors contributing to a backlash against openness in many countries and a decline in confidence in government institutions.

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.

25-26 January 2018 - The first annual meeting of the G20 Global Infrastructure Connectivity Alliance will bring together policy makers and practitioners to discuss the state of play in global connectivity, innovative practices and the outlook for connectivity.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly turning to alternative sources of financing, while new bank lending is declining in a number of countries. Many SMEs remain over-reliant on bank credit, however, and the take-up of instruments other than straight debt varies greatly from one country to another, according to a new OECD report.

The OECD, UN Environment and World Bank Group today called on leaders of G20 countries to do more to enable a radical shift of investment into low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure as a way to limit the impact of climate change.

This publication looks at regional innovation in Wallonia, Belgium, by examining the political context, governance issues and the role of innovation in the economy, along with regional innovation strategies to promote growth.

The digital revolution, globalisation and demographic changes are transforming labour markets at a time when policy makers are also struggling with slow productivity and wage growth and high levels of income inequality. The new OECD Jobs Strategy provides a comprehensive framework and policy recommendations to help countries address these challenges

International migration fell in 2009, reflecting lower demand for workers in OECD countries for the second consecutive year after a decade of growth, according to a new OECD report.

The Irish economy still faces tough challenges as the country exits from a deep recession and banking crisis, but its long-term prospects now appear better than many of the other hard hit European countries, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Ireland.

Economic policy should be better designed to bring about more inclusive growth, ensuring that the benefits of increased prosperity are shared more evenly across society, according to a new report from the OECD and the World Bank.

This paper explores the growing importance of intangible assets as a potential source of innovation and productivity gains, and the contribution of efficient resource allocation to this process.

Low growth and huge current account deficits have characterised the Portuguese economy over the past decade.

Secretary-General Angel Gurría opens the first meeting of the New Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC) Group, an organisation-wide reflection process on the roots and lessons from the crisis with the aim of catalysing a process of continuous improvement of our analytical frameworks and policy advice. This meeting serves as a first step to get expert feedback and inputs to identify priorities for the way forward.

Restoring competitiveness is one of the key challenges to bring European economies back on a path of strong, sustainable and balanced growth. Europe could improve its growth prospects by implementing a strategic reform agenda with a broad range of policy reforms to increase productivity, dynamism and employment.

The correlation between a firm’s size and its productivity level varies considerably across OECD countries, suggesting that some countries are more successful at channelling resources to high productivity firms than others.