Data / Rankings / Average weekly hours worked / EU countries

EU countries by average weekly hours worked, 2024

Greece had the highest average weekly hours worked of 26 EU countries in 2024, at 39.8 hours per week. The Netherlands had the lowest, at 30.2 hours per week. The median was 36.7 hours per week. Source: International Labour Organization.

Highest39.8Greece
Lowest30.2Netherlands
Median36.726 EU countries

All EU countries, 2024

Greece: 39.8 hours per weekGreece39.8Bulgaria: 39 hours per weekBulgaria39Romania: 38.7 hours per weekRomania38.7Poland: 38.6 hours per weekPoland38.6Czechia: 38 hours per weekCzechia38Lithuania: 38 hours per weekLithuania38Latvia: 37.8 hours per weekLatvia37.8Cyprus: 37.7 hours per weekCyprus37.7Slovenia: 37.6 hours per weekSlovenia37.6Croatia: 37.6 hours per weekCroatia37.6Portugal: 37.2 hours per weekPortugal37.2Hungary: 37.2 hours per weekHungary37.2Malta: 37.1 hours per weekMalta37.1Spain: 36.3 hours per weekSpain36.3Italy: 36 hours per weekItaly36Estonia: 35.8 hours per weekEstonia35.8France: 35.5 hours per weekFrance35.5Luxembourg: 35.2 hours per weekLuxembourg35.2Belgium: 35 hours per weekBelgium35Sweden: 34.5 hours per weekSweden34.5Ireland: 34.2 hours per weekIreland34.2Finland: 33.8 hours per weekFinland33.8Austria: 33.4 hours per weekAustria33.4Germany: 33.3 hours per weekGermany33.3Denmark: 32.4 hours per weekDenmark32.4Netherlands: 30.2 hours per weekNetherlands30.2
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.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2024
hours per week		Change on 2023
1Greece39.8+0.1%
2Bulgaria39-0.1%
3Romania38.7-1.8%
4Poland38.6-1.1%
5Czechia38+0.1%
5Lithuania38-0.1%
7Latvia37.80%
8Cyprus37.7-1.3%
9Slovenia37.6-0.3%
10Croatia37.6-0.7%
11Portugal37.2-1.5%
12Hungary37.2-1.1%
13Malta37.10%
14Spain36.3+0.2%
15Italy360%
16Estonia35.8-0.2%
17France35.5-0.5%
18Luxembourg35.2+0.3%
19Belgium35-0.5%
20Sweden34.5-0.1%
21Ireland34.20%
22Finland33.8+0.4%
23Austria33.4+0.7%
24Germany33.3-0.6%
25Denmark32.4-1.6%
26Netherlands30.2-0.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

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.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. 1 EU countries with data in other periods have no value for 2024 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

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.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank EU countries by average weekly hours worked using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"weekly_hours_worked","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=weekly_hours_worked&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which EU country has the highest average weekly hours worked?

Greece, with 39.8 hours per week in 2024, according to International Labour Organization.

Which EU country has the lowest average weekly hours worked?

The Netherlands, with 30.2 hours per week in 2024.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: International Labour Organization, Average weekly hours actually worked per employed person by sex, total, annual (DF_HOW_TEMP_SEX_NB). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 EU countries have no value for 2024 and are not ranked.

Average weekly hours worked: other rankings

EU countries: more rankings