In recent years, the Austrian industrial production index has grown significantly faster than that of Germany. In Switzerland and Denmark, on the other hand, industry has expanded even more strongly than in Austria since the end of the COVID-19 crisis. However, the higher momentum in these countries is due to the boom in the pharmaceutical sector. Without this industry, the growth advantage dissipates. For all observed countries, the share of value added in output of the industry as a whole, remained rather constant recently. Therefore, meaningful comparisons can be made based on output data. Calculations of productivity based on hours worked reveal a similar development to the one of output. While a decline has been observed in Germany since 2017, labour productivity has increased in the other countries. The increase in Denmark and Switzerland was even more pronounced than in Austria. Here, too, the difference can be attributed solely to the pharmaceutical industry. Without it, there is no difference in labour productivity as compared to Austria.