I totally did not expect this!

http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/u64/which-programming-languages-are-fastest.php?calc=chart&gcc=on&gpp=on&javasteady=on&ghc=on&ifc=on&sbcl=on&vw=on&python3=on

GCC and G++ are the fastest. That's the norm.
Java7 faster than Haskell and Fortran. WTF?
LispSBCL and SmalltalkVW faster than Python 3. Jesus Christ.

>>16
the compiler can do more work optimising the code.
That's the hope, but the reality of the situation is that the compiler authors for newer or less-popular languages often give up halfway once they get to the point where making further changes breaks ABI backwards compatibility, when it becomes too difficult to maintain the code base, or when it has become good enough for their personal needs or maintaining their user base.

This is in part also due to the fact that unless your language becomes as popular as C, C++, Java, etc. with many multiple implementations of compiler tool chains, there's no competition among vendors to deliver better tools. That's largely why C and C++ enjoy their performance crowns... competition between compiler authors/vendors over the decades has born ripe fruit.