Average weekly hours worked in South Africa

Average weekly hours worked in South Africa was 42.4 hours per week in 2025, according to International Labour Organization. That is up 0.1% from 2024. That is the 24th highest of 97 countries in 2023.

2025, hours per week42.4
Change on 2024+0.1%
Rank24th of 97Countries ranked
Series high47.32005
Series low42.32020

Average weekly hours worked in South Africa, 2000 to 2025

4244464820002004200820122016202020252000: 46.8 hours per week2001: 47.2 hours per week2002: 47.3 hours per week2003: 46.1 hours per week2004: 46.5 hours per week2005: 47.3 hours per week2006: 45.7 hours per week2007: 45.8 hours per week2008: 44.7 hours per week2009: 44.1 hours per week2010: 43.9 hours per week2011: 44 hours per week2012: 43.6 hours per week2013: 43.4 hours per week2014: 43.4 hours per week2015: 43.4 hours per week2016: 43.3 hours per week2017: 43 hours per week2018: 42.9 hours per week2019: 42.9 hours per week2020: 42.3 hours per week2021: 42.4 hours per week2022: 42.6 hours per week2023: 42.6 hours per week2024: 42.4 hours per week2025: 42.4 hours per week
hours per week. Source: ILOSTAT, Average weekly hours actually worked per employed person by sex, total, annual (DF_HOW_TEMP_SEX_NB). Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-10-11.
All 26 values
Periodhours per week
202542.4
202442.4
202342.6
202242.6
202142.4
202042.3
201942.9
201842.9
201743
201643.3
201543.4
201443.4
201343.4
201243.6
201144
201043.9
200944.1
200844.7 Series break
200745.8
200645.7
200547.3
200446.5
200346.1
200247.3
200147.2
200046.8 Series break

Rankings

Definition

Average number of hours actually worked per week in the main job by employed people, full-time and part-time together, from labour force and household surveys compiled by the ILO (13th ICLS definitions). Hours actually worked include overtime and exclude paid leave.

Main job only, so people with second jobs work more than shown. Countries with many part-time workers show lower averages. The ILO's modelled estimates are not served. The ILO recalculates national survey data to its international definitions, so values can differ from the figures national offices publish, and it revises past years.

How to cite

International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT. Average weekly hours actually worked per employed person by sex, total, annual (DF_HOW_TEMP_SEX_NB). https://data.ilo.org/vis?df%5Bds%5D=ds-production&df%5Bid%5D=DF_HOW_TEMP_SEX_NB&df%5Bag%5D=ILO (Accessed on 2026-10-12). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

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Questions

What is the average weekly hours worked in South Africa?

Average weekly hours worked in South Africa was 42.4 hours per week in 2025, according to International Labour Organization. That is up 0.1% from 2024. That is the 24th highest of 97 countries in 2023.

Where does this figure come from?

International Labour Organization. Average weekly hours actually worked per employed person by sex, total, annual (DF_HOW_TEMP_SEX_NB). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest average weekly hours worked in South Africa?

47.3 hours per week in 2005, the highest value since 2000 in this series.

Average weekly hours worked in other countries

Related statistics for South Africa

All statistics for South Africa