The sectors of the global economy most heavily exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are witnessing a marked productivity increase and command a significant wage premium, according to a report.

Boosting hopes that AI might help lift the global economy out of a 15-year, low-growth trough, a PwC study found productivity growth was almost five times as rapid in parts of the economy where AI penetration was highest than in less exposed sectors.

PwC said that in the UK, one of the 15 countries covered by the report, job postings that require AI skills were growing 3.6 times faster relative to all job listings.

On average, UK employers were willing to pay a 14% wage premium for jobs that require AI skills, with the legal and information technology sectors experiencing the highest premiums. The uptick in productivity in sectors more exposed to AI – such as financial services, information technology, and professional services – was marginally higher in the UK than the global average.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 there has been much debate about the employment implications of the new era of smart machines but PwC said AI had been having an impact on the jobs market for more than a decade. From a low base, postings for specialist AI jobs were seven times higher than in 2012, compared with a doubling for all other jobs.

PwC’s 2024 global AI jobs barometer found that companies were currently using AI as a solution to a lack of available workers.

“This could be good news for many nations facing shrinking working age populations and vast unmet needs for labour in many sectors,” it said. “AI can help to ensure that the labour supply is available for the economy to reach its full potential.”

The report said the fact that employment in AI-exposed occupations was still growing suggested that the arrival of generative AI did not herald an era of job losses. One study, from the left-of-centre Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank, has predicted that up to 8m posts could go in the UK in a jobs “apocalypse” within the next few years.

Barret Kupelian, the chief economist at PwC UK, said: “Our findings show that AI has the power to create new industries, transform the jobs market and potentially push up productivity growth rates. In terms of the economic impact, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg – currently, our findings suggest that the adoption of AI is concentrated in a few sectors of the economy, but once the technology improves and diffuses across other sectors of the economy, the future potential could be transformative.”