Annual working hours per person employed by country
Countries reporting
37
Highest
2,209
South Africa
Lowest
1,355
Germany
Median
1,739
Years covered
48
1970β2017
Data points
1,460
What the numbers show
Annual working hours per person employed is currently reported for 37 countries. The highest value is 2,209 in South Africa; the lowest is 1,355 in Germany.
The median across all reporting countries is 1,739, and the mean is 1,746.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 6 countries rose and 31 fell. The largest increase was in Sweden (up 1.7%), and the largest decrease in Hungary (down 11.3%).
Annual working hours per person employed: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | 2,209 | 2014 | down 5.7% | falling |
| 2 | Mexico | 2,143 | 2016 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 3 | Poland | 2,050 | 2016 | down 1.5% | falling |
| 4 | Greece | 2,030 | 2016 | down 4.5% | flat |
| 5 | Chile | 1,974 | 2016 | down 8.8% | falling |
| 5 | Russia | 1,974 | 2016 | down 1.2% | flat |
| 7 | Israel | 1,921 | 2016 | down 1.6% | flat |
| 8 | Latvia | 1,902 | 2016 | down 0.2% | flat |
| 9 | Lithuania | 1,885 | 2016 | up 0.6% | rising |
| 10 | Iceland | 1,883 | 2016 | down 3.8% | falling |
| 11 | Portugal | 1,865 | 2016 | down 1.0% | falling |
| 12 | Estonia | 1,855 | 2016 | down 7.3% | falling |
| 13 | Turkey | 1,832 | 2016 | down 5.8% | falling |
| 14 | Czechia | 1,778 | 2016 | down 1.2% | falling |
| 15 | Hungary | 1,759 | 2016 | down 11.3% | falling |
| 16 | New Zealand | 1,752 | 2016 | down 2.4% | falling |
| 17 | United States | 1,742 | 2016 | down 0.6% | flat |
| 18 | Slovakia | 1,740 | 2016 | down 1.9% | flat |
| 19 | Ireland | 1,739 | 2016 | down 7.5% | falling |
| 20 | Australia | 1,731 | 2016 | down 3.9% | flat |
| 21 | Italy | 1,725 | 2016 | down 4.8% | falling |
| 22 | Japan | 1,713 | 2016 | down 4.0% | falling |
| 23 | Canada | 1,703 | 2016 | down 2.4% | falling |
| 24 | Spain | 1,701 | 2016 | down 0.8% | falling |
| 25 | United Kingdom | 1,673 | 2016 | up 0.4% | falling |
| 26 | Slovenia | 1,667 | 2016 | down 0.0% | flat |
| 27 | Finland | 1,635 | 2016 | down 3.4% | falling |
| 28 | Sweden | 1,626 | 2016 | up 1.7% | flat |
| 29 | Austria | 1,609 | 2016 | down 7.3% | falling |
| 30 | Switzerland | 1,590 | 2016 | down 3.6% | falling |
| 31 | Belgium | 1,546 | 2016 | down 1.7% | falling |
| 32 | Luxembourg | 1,520 | 2016 | down 2.1% | falling |
| 33 | France | 1,503 | 2016 | down 0.5% | falling |
| 34 | Netherlands | 1,437 | 2016 | up 0.4% | falling |
| 35 | Norway | 1,429 | 2016 | up 0.3% | falling |
| 36 | Denmark | 1,409 | 2016 | down 3.2% | falling |
| 37 | Germany | 1,355 | 2017 | down 4.8% | falling |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- G7 1,664