Japan vs Spain: Annual working hours per worker
Japan
1,654 hours per worker
in 2023
Spain
1,638 hours per worker
in 2023
Japan rank
97th
Spain rank
99th
Annual working hours per worker over time
- Japan
- Spain
How they compare
Japan currently reports 1,654 hours per worker against 1,638 hours per worker in Spain, a difference of 16 hours per worker.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Spain ahead.
Japan ranks 97th and Spain ranks 99th of 130 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 7 and Spain in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | Spain | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 2,101 hours per worker | 2,182 hours per worker | 81.03 hours per worker | Spain |
| 1960s | 2,203 hours per worker | 2,048 hours per worker | 154.72 hours per worker | Japan |
| 1970s | 2,134 hours per worker | 1,982 hours per worker | 151.27 hours per worker | Japan |
| 1980s | 2,103 hours per worker | 1,806 hours per worker | 296.68 hours per worker | Japan |
| 1990s | 1,919 hours per worker | 1,744 hours per worker | 174.29 hours per worker | Japan |
| 2000s | 1,817 hours per worker | 1,730 hours per worker | 86.7 hours per worker | Japan |
| 2010s | 1,750 hours per worker | 1,693 hours per worker | 56.73 hours per worker | Japan |
| 2020s | 1,651 hours per worker | 1,622 hours per worker | 28.94 hours per worker | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher annual working hours per worker, Japan or Spain?
- Japan, at 1,654 hours per worker against 1,638 hours per worker in Spain as of 2023.
- What is the difference in annual working hours per worker between Japan and Spain?
- 16 hours per worker, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and Spain?
- 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
- How do Japan and Spain rank globally for annual working hours per worker?
- Japan ranks 97th and Spain ranks 99th of 130 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Feenstra et al. – Penn World Table (2025); Huberman and Minns (2005) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Annual working hours per worker. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Average working hours per worker in a given year.