The amount of time workers spend at the office every week depends a great deal on the industry in which they work. But industry is just one factor determining how long people work; another is the country where they live. In some more affluent nations around the world, the typical work week for full time employees is well under 40 hours, but it is close to 50 hours in others.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on the typical number of hours worked per week among full-time employees in 37 mostly affluent nations from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. We listed these countries from the shortest typical work week to the longest.
As might be expected, workplace laws and conventions in the countries with shorter typical work weeks are often more favorable towards workers than laws in countries with longer work weeks. Countries with shorter work weeks also tend to have better overtime compensation and regulations and more favorable parental leave laws. A number of the countries on this list with shorter work weeks also happen to have substantial government-mandated vacation time. These are the countries with the most vacation time.
While some find their work lives fulfilling, countries with shorter work weeks tend to have residents with higher life satisfaction. Leisure time appears to be an important contributing factor to life satisfaction — the countries with longer typical work weeks had lower life satisfaction scores based on the OECD’s annual Life Satisfaction Survey.
Many of the countries with the longest hours worked tend to have especially low minimum wages. Of the five countries with the longest typical work week, three have a minimum wage of less than $3.50. These are the wealthy countries you don’t want to work abroad in.
Click here to see how long the average work week is around the world
Click here to read our methodology
Source: scanrail / Getty Images
1. Denmark
> Average work week (full-time employees): 37.2 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 2.3%
> Workforce that is part-time: 20.4%
> Unemployment rate: 4.9%
> Avg. annual wages: $55,253
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2. Netherlands
> Average work week (full-time employees): 37.3 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 0.4%
> Workforce that is part-time: 38.7%
> Unemployment rate: 3.3%
> Avg. annual wages: $54,262
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Source: cookelma / Getty Images
3. Norway
> Average work week (full-time employees): 38.0 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 2.9%
> Workforce that is part-time: 19.1%
> Unemployment rate: 3.7%
> Avg. annual wages: $50,956
Source: orpheus26 / Getty Images
4. Belgium
> Average work week (full-time employees): 38.8 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 4.8%
> Workforce that is part-time: 17.6%
> Unemployment rate: 5.2%
> Avg. annual wages: $52,080
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5. France
> Average work week (full-time employees): 38.9 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 7.7%
> Workforce that is part-time: 14.0%
> Unemployment rate: 8.5%
> Avg. annual wages: $44,510
Source: scanrail / Getty Images
6. Sweden
> Average work week (full-time employees): 39.0 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 1.1%
> Workforce that is part-time: 13.1%
> Unemployment rate: 6.9%
> Avg. annual wages: $44,196
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Source: scanrail / Getty Images
7. Finland
> Average work week (full-time employees): 39.3 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 3.8%
> Workforce that is part-time: 12.7%
> Unemployment rate: 6.8%
> Avg. annual wages: $44,111
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8. Italy
> Average work week (full-time employees): 39.5 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 4.1%
> Workforce that is part-time: 19.3%
> Unemployment rate: 10.0%
> Avg. annual wages: $37,752
Source: bluejayphoto / Getty Images
9. Germany
> Average work week (full-time employees): 39.5 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 4.3%
> Workforce that is part-time: 22.3%
> Unemployment rate: 3.1%
> Avg. annual wages: $49,813
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10. Spain
> Average work week (full-time employees): 39.6 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 4.0%
> Workforce that is part-time: 14.1%
> Unemployment rate: 14.2%
> Avg. annual wages: $38,761
Source: benstevens / Getty Images
11. Ireland
> Average work week (full-time employees): 39.7 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 5.3%
> Workforce that is part-time: 21.5%
> Unemployment rate: 5.0%
> Avg. annual wages: $47,952
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Source: tibu / Getty Images
12. Luxembourg
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.0 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 3.8%
> Workforce that is part-time: 12.6%
> Unemployment rate: 5.8%
> Avg. annual wages: $65,449
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Source: Roman Babakin / Getty Images
13. Lithuania
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.1 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 0.5%
> Workforce that is part-time: 6.7%
> Unemployment rate: 6.2%
> Avg. annual wages: $26,429
Source: RudyBalasko / Getty Images
14. Austria
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.2 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 6.7%
> Workforce that is part-time: 20.5%
> Unemployment rate: 4.4%
> Avg. annual wages: $50,868
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15. Estonia
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.2 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 2.4%
> Workforce that is part-time: 9.1%
> Unemployment rate: 4.1%
> Avg. annual wages: $26,898
Source: Marcus Lindstrom / Getty Images
16. Latvia
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.2 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 1.3%
> Workforce that is part-time: 5.2%
> Unemployment rate: 6.1%
> Avg. annual wages: $25,586
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Source: TomasSereda / Getty Images
17. Slovak Republic
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.3 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 4.1%
> Workforce that is part-time: 5.2%
> Unemployment rate: 5.8%
> Avg. annual wages: $25,357
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18. Hungary
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.3 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 3.0%
> Workforce that is part-time: 3.6%
> Unemployment rate: 3.4%
> Avg. annual wages: $24,455
Source: DaLiu / Getty Images
19. Czech Republic
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.4 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 5.7%
> Workforce that is part-time: 4.8%
> Unemployment rate: 2.1%
> Avg. annual wages: $26,962
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20. Switzerland
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.5 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 0.4%
> Workforce that is part-time: 25.7%
> Unemployment rate: 4.5%
> Avg. annual wages: $64,109
Source: kasto80 / Getty Images
21. Slovenia
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.6 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 4.4%
> Workforce that is part-time: 7.3%
> Unemployment rate: 4.9%
> Avg. annual wages: $37,322
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Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
22. Portugal
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.7 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 8.3%
> Workforce that is part-time: 5.3%
> Unemployment rate: 6.3%
> Avg. annual wages: $25,487
Source: Xantana / Getty Images
23. Poland
> Average work week (full-time employees): 40.9 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 6.0%
> Workforce that is part-time: 5.4%
> Unemployment rate: 3.2%
> Avg. annual wages: $29,109
Source: RobertBreitpaul / Getty Images
24. Greece
> Average work week (full-time employees): 41.5 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 6.4%
> Workforce that is part-time: 12.5%
> Unemployment rate: 17.1%
> Avg. annual wages: $26,671
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25. United States
> Average work week (full-time employees): 41.5 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 11.1%
> Workforce that is part-time: 12.7%
> Unemployment rate: 3.5%
> Avg. annual wages: $63,093
Source: Leonid Andronov / iStock
26. United Kingdom
> Average work week (full-time employees): 41.8 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 12.2%
> Workforce that is part-time: 22.2%
> Unemployment rate: 3.8%
> Avg. annual wages: $44,770
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Source: africanpix / Getty Images
27. Australia
> Average work week (full-time employees): 41.8 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 13.0%
> Workforce that is part-time: 24.7%
> Unemployment rate: 5.2%
> Avg. annual wages: $53,349
Source: Yuri de Mesquita Bar / Getty Images
28. Brazil
> Average work week (full-time employees): 42.5 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 7.1%
> Workforce that is part-time: 12.2%
> Unemployment rate: N/A
> Avg. annual wages: N/A
Source: stefaniedesign / iStock
29. New Zealand
> Average work week (full-time employees): 42.7 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 15.1%
> Workforce that is part-time: 19.0%
> Unemployment rate: 4.2%
> Avg. annual wages: $42,325
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Source: Boyloso / Getty Images
30. Iceland
> Average work week (full-time employees): 43.3 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 15.1%
> Workforce that is part-time: 17.3%
> Unemployment rate: 4.2%
> Avg. annual wages: $66,504
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
31. Israel
> Average work week (full-time employees): 44.4 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 15.5%
> Workforce that is part-time: 14.8%
> Unemployment rate: 3.7%
> Avg. annual wages: $37,655
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Source: Ben1183 / Getty Images
32. South Africa
> Average work week (full-time employees): 45.0 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 18.1%
> Workforce that is part-time: 7.8%
> Unemployment rate: 28.8%
> Avg. annual wages: N/A
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Source: tifonimages / Getty Images
33. Chile
> Average work week (full-time employees): 45.7 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 9.7%
> Workforce that is part-time: 10.3%
> Unemployment rate: 6.9%
> Avg. annual wages: $27,125
Source: Seqoya / Getty Images
34. Turkey
> Average work week (full-time employees): 48.4 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 32.6%
> Workforce that is part-time: 5.0%
> Unemployment rate: 14.2%
> Avg. annual wages: N/A
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Source: ferrantraite / Getty Images
35. Mexico
> Average work week (full-time employees): 48.5 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 28.7%
> Workforce that is part-time: 11.3%
> Unemployment rate: 3.6%
> Avg. annual wages: $16,298
Source: Wikipedro / Wikimedia Commons
36. Costa Rica
> Average work week (full-time employees): 48.6 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: N/A
> Workforce that is part-time: 12.6%
> Unemployment rate: N/A
> Avg. annual wages: N/A
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Source: garytog / Getty Images
37. Colombia
> Average work week (full-time employees): 49.8 hours
> Employees who worked over 50 hours/week: 26.6%
> Workforce that is part-time: 6.5%
> Unemployment rate: 10.7%
> Avg. annual wages: N/A
Methodology
To determine how long the average workweek is around the world, 24/7 Wall St. analyzed data on the average hours usually worked among dependent employees in 2018 from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Data on the percentage of dependent employees who work part-time — less than 30 hours a week — also came from the OECD and is for 2018. Additional data listed is all from the OECD and is for the most recent period available. All figures are annual except for unemployment figures, which are quarterly. All data on employee hours and part-time work are for dependent employees, meaning it does not include self-employed workers.
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