This disparity is clearly visible when you look at the numbers. In January 1940, it took 15,000 man-hours to build a Spitfire 1A and 9,000 to build a Bf 109E. By 1942, that gap had only widened. The Bf 109F needed only 4,000 man-hours to build whereas the Spitfire Mk V required 13,000.
Spitfire Mk 1A January 1940: 15,000
Bf 109E January 1940: 9,000
Spitfire Mk V 1942: 13,000
Bf 109F 1942: 4,000
Source (and also found
here)
Fighters:
Spitfire January 1940: 15,200
Hurricane January 1940: 10,300
Whirlwind January 1940: 26,600
Tornado January 1940: 15,500
Bombers:
Battle January 1940: 24,000
Whitley January 1940: 52,000
Wellington January 1940: 38,000
Manchester January 1940: 52,100
Halifax January 1940: 76,000
Stirling January 1940: 75,000
Source (it's at the very bottom at footnote 89 or just page-search "man-hours")
P-51 1941-42: 8,666
P-51 1944: 2,639
F-86 1948-1950: 24,793
F-86 1951: 5,153
Source (pages 722-729)
B-17: 35,400 1943, 18,600 1944
B-24: 24,800 1943, 14,500 1944
B-25: 14,800 1943, 10,700 1944
C-46: 113,000 1943, 49,500 1944
C-54: 142,100 1943, 62,600 1944
P-38: 14,800 1943, 9,600 1944
P-47: 22,200 1943, 9,100 1944
Source (page 333, along with many other production measures)
Getting the new fighter into service was a slow and laboured process however. A C.202 required 22,000 man-hours to complete, while it took Alfa Romeo over a year to put the DB601A-1 into production as its licence-built RA.1000 R.C.41-I Monsone- and afterwards its factory was able to produce only 60 engines per month. Despite these setbacks, the Regia Aeronautica finally had a fighter that was clearly superior to the RAF’s Hurricane and on a par with the Luftwaffe’s Bf 109. The C.202 saw its first combat over Malta on 1 October when seven 9 Gruppo aircraft conducted a fighter sweep over the island.
Macchi C.202 (likely late 1941): 22,000
Source (page 67)
“The C.202 also required 20,000 man-hours to produce compared to just 4,500 for the Bf 109.”
Macchi C.202: 20,000
Source (page 20)
On recommendations of German observers from their Ruestungs und Kriegsproduktion Stab (the Armaments and War Production Staff), further G.55 manufacture was dispersed across Monferrato, enabling workers in various towns and villages throughout the area to construct different specific parts, which were then brought together for rapid assembly in Turin. German efficiency measures also reduced Centaur fabrication from 15,000 to 9,000 man-hours per finished airplane. In all, 274 of the latest Fiats were produced by war’s end.
Fiat G.55 (1943): 15,000
Fiat G.55 (1944): 9,000
Source (pages 41-42)
He-219-A-0 (only 11 A/C Built): 9,000 Man Hours
Bf-109E (1939): 12,000
Bf-109E (1940): 6,000~
Bf-109F (1941): 7,800~
Bf-109F (1942): 4,000
Bf-109G (1942): 5,700~
Bf-109G (1943): 4,000
Bf-109G (1944): 2,000
P-38 (First Aircraft): 360,000
P-38 (500th Aircraft): 17,000
P-38 (10,000th Aircraft): 3,800
Avro Lancaster (1941): 51,000
Avro Lancaster (1945): 20,000
Il-2 Sturmovik (Early): 9,500
Il-2 Sturmovik (Late): 5,900
B-2A Spirit (First A/C): 3,500,000
B-2A Spirit (Northrop Estimate for 11th B-2): 1,000,000
Airbus 300 (First A/C): 340,000
Fiat G.55 (Early Production): 15,000
Bf-109: 5,000
F-16A (1984): 29,000
F-16C (1989): 45,000
F-22 Mid Fuselage: 60,000
Spitfire: 15,200
Hurricane: 10,300
Whirlwind: 26,600
Tornado: 15,500
Battle: 24,000
Whitley: 52,000
Wellington: 38,000
Manchester: 52,100
Halifax: 76,000
Stirling: 75,000
B-17 (1942): 54,800
B-17 (Seattle Boeing ; 1943): 35,400
B-17 (Seattle Boeing ; 1944): 18,600
B-24 (Consolidated San Diego; 1943): 24,800
B-24 (Consolidated San Diego; 1944): 14,500
B-25 (North American Inglewood; 1943): 14,800
B-25 (North American Inglewood; 1944): 10,700
C-46 (Curtiss Buffalo; 1943): 113,000
C-46 (Curtiss Buffalo; 1944): 49,500
C-54 (Douglas Santa Monica; 1943): 142,100
C-54 (Douglas Santa Monica; 1944): 62,600
P-38 (Lockheed Burbank; 1943): 14,800
P-38 (Lockheed Burbank; 1944): 9,600
P-47 (Republic Farmingale; 1943): 9,600
P-47 (Republic Farmingale; 1943): 9,100
Source (along with a bunch of other useful production data)
His main page also has a bunch of other useful data for production. For comparison,
this page also has some mentions of productivity through the Industrial revolution, and
this page mentions the man-hours to produce a car in 2008- 13.57 to 35.1.
There is also a bunch of other unconfirmed data on man-hours to produce an aircraft on
this forum page.
Hopefully this data will let me get a better idea of how many man-hours the fighter can be expected to require, and how much those man-hour requirements can be reduced with certain design choices.