Around the world, the average workweek can range from less than 40 hours in length to close to 50 hours, with the global average hours worked per week estimated at around 41.1, according to a survey conducted by the Geneva-based International Labour Organization (ILO). But which countries enjoy the shortest workweeks?
The ILO study lists 188 nations as having the shortest working hours. This figure is based on projected 2024 values using the latest available statistics published in November 2023, drawn from full- and part-time employees in traditional employment agreements as well as self-employed workers. But in this gallery, we’ve whittled down the numbers to list the top 30 nations with the shortest working hours in the world.
Latvia
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Latvia number 33.2. On average, men worked 34.8 hours while women worked 31.6 hours. Pictured is Riga, the capital and largest city of Latvia.
Timor-Leste
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Timor-Leste number 32.4. On average, men worked 33.6 hours while women worked 31 hours. Pictured is Dili, the nation’s capital.
Canada
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Canada number 32.3. On average, men worked 35.1 hours while women worked 29.1 hours. Pictured is Vancouver’s False Creek.
Spain
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Spain number 32.1. On average, men worked 34.3 hours while women worked 29.4 hours. Pictured is Madrid, the Spanish capital.
Estonia
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Estonia number 32. On average, men worked 34 hours while women worked 30 hours. Pictured is Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia.
Ghana
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Ghana number 31.9. On average, men worked 33.8 hours while women worked 29.8 hours. Pictured is the Ghanaian capital, Accra.
Belgium
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Belgium number 31.5. On average, men worked 35.2 hours while women worked 27.3 hours. Pictured is Bruges’ Groenerei Canal.
Madagascar
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Madagascar also number 31.5. On average, men worked 33.5 hours while women worked 29.4 hours. Pictured is the royal palace complex in Antananarivo, the island nation’s capital city.
Tonga
Likewise, the average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Tonga number 31.5. On average, men worked 32.4 hours while women worked 30.3 hours. Pictured is Tonga’s royal palace, which is situated in the capital Nukuʻalofa.
Ireland
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Ireland number 31. On average, men worked 35.4 hours while women worked 26.1 hours. Pictured is Dublin’s famous Temple Bar district.
United Kingdom
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in the United Kingdom number 30.7. On average, men worked 34.1 hours while women worked 27 hours. Pictured is Canary Wharf, London’s business and financial district.
Luxembourg
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Luxembourg number 30.7. On average, men worked 33.7 hours while women worked 27.3 hours. Pictured is the nation’s capital, Luxembourg City.
France
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in France number 30.7. On average, men worked 33.5 hours while women worked 27.9 hours. Pictured is Strasbourg in the Grand Est region of the country.
Djibouti
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Djibouti number 30.6. On average, men worked 31.7 hours while women worked 27.5 hours. Pictured is the Port of Djibouti, which is located at the crossroads of one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, linking Europe, the Far East, the Horn of Africa, and the Arabian Gulf.
Iraq
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Iraq number 30.4. On average, men worked 32.1 hours while women worked 17.4 hours. Pictured is the city of Erbil.
Malawi
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Malawi number 30.2. On average, men worked 33.6 hours while women worked 26.5 hours. Pictured is Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital city.
Ethiopia
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Ethiopia number 30.1. On average, men worked 32.7 hours while women worked 27.2 hours. Pictured is downtown Addis Ababa.
Rwanda
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Rwanda number 29.9. On average, men worked 31.9 hours while women worked 27.6 hours. Pictured is Kigali Convention Centre in the capital.
Germany
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Germany number 29.7. On average, men worked 33.4 hours while women worked 25.4 hours. Pictured is Munich’s Marienplatz.
Somalia
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Somalia number 29.6. On average, men worked 30.5 hours while women worked 27.4 hours. Pictured is the nation’s capital city, Mogadishu.
Denmark
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Denmark number 29.5. On average, men worked 32.2 hours while women worked 26.5 hours. Pictured is Copenhagen’s picturesque Nyhavn waterfront.
Mozambique
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Mozambique number 29.4. On average, men worked 33.6 hours while women worked 25.4 hours. Pictured is Independence Square in Maputo.
Austria
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Austria also number 29.4. On average, men worked 33.2 hours while women worked 25 hours. Pictured is Vienna’s historic Belvedere palace complex.
Sweden
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Sweden number 29.2. On average, men worked 31.4 hours while women worked 26.8 hours. Pictured is Stockholm’s Gamla Stan (Old Town) in mid-winter.
Finland
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Finland number 28.9. On average, men worked 31.3 hours while women worked 26.4 hours. Pictured is a frozen South Harbor.
Vanuatu
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Vanuatu number 27.6. On average, men worked 27.2 hours while women worked 28.2 hours. Pictured is the South Pacific nation’s capital, Port Vila.
Norway
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Norway number 27.1. On average, men worked 29.7 hours while women worked 24.3 hours. Pictured is Oslo, the country’s capital.
Netherlands
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in the Netherlands number 26.7. On average, men worked 30.8 hours while women worked 22.1 hours. Pictured is the Dutch city of Nijmegen.
Yemen
The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in Yemen number 25.4. On average, men worked 25.9 hours while women worked 17.8 hours. Pictured is Budha, a town in eastern Yemen.
Syria
And the country with the shortest workweek according to the ILO is Syria. The average weekly hours worked in 2024 in this country number 25.3. On average, men worked 26.9 hours while women worked 17.1 hours. Pictured is the Umayyad Mosque (Great Mosque of Damascus).
Sources: (World Population Review) (ILO)
