Average Product
Plain definition
Total output divided by the number of units of the variable input used — output per worker or per unit of input on average.
In economics
In production analysis, average product (AP) = total product ÷ variable input quantity. The AP curve rises while marginal product exceeds it and falls when marginal product is below it, so MP crosses AP at AP's maximum. Firms watch AP per worker as a rough measure of input productivity.
Example
If 8 workers produce 400 loaves, average product is 400 ÷ 8 = 50 loaves per worker, even though the marginal product of the 8th worker may be lower, say 35 loaves.
Average product is often confused with total product. Total product is the whole output (400 loaves); average product is output per input unit (50 loaves per worker). A firm can have rising total product while average product is already falling.