Average annual growth of industrial production of OECD countries 1960s-1970s
Industrial output across the OECD fell by significant amount between the 1960s and 1970s, when annual averages are compared. Overall, the OECD saw industrial output grow by almost six percent in each year between 1960 and 1970, whereas this growth fell to just 3.5 percent per year between 1971 and 1978. The largest individual decline of the major economies was observed in Japan, who saw a difference of nine percent between the two periods. The largest proportional decline of the given countries, however, was observed in Switzerland, where annual industrial output between 1971 and 1978 was less than one tenth of the rate in the previous period. The primary reason for this decline was due to the 1973-1975 recession that resulted from the oil embargo of 1973, which highlighted the developed world's increasing dependency on foreign oil imports. This recession also marked the end of the post-war economic boom, but saw the transition of economies such as Japan, West Germany, and wider European Economic Community in general (i.e. the predecessor to the EU) into global economic powers.