New data from Eurostat shows how differently working weeks look across Europe, with some countries averaging nearly 10 hours more per week than others. The EU average sits at 35.9 hours for people aged 20 to 64 in their main job, covering both full-time and part-time workers.
Working hours vary widely across the bloc.
Balkan countries log the longest weeks
Within the EU, actual working hours range from a low of 31.9 hours in the Netherlands to a high of 39.6 hours in Greece. If you include candidate countries and EFTA members, Turkey tops the list at 42.4 hours per week.
Two other candidate countries are close behind: Bosnia and Herzegovina at 40.9 hours and Serbia at 40.6 hours. These three are the only places where the average exceeds 40 hours — more than eight hours a day across a five-day week.
Greece, North Macedonia (39.5) and Bulgaria (38.7) come next.
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Balkan countries dominate the upper end of the rankings.
Professor David Spencer of the University of Leeds told reporters that lower productivity and weaker worker bargaining power likely explain the pattern. “In no country do workers ‘choose’ the hours they work,” he said. “They work a ‘normal’ set of hours influenced by employers.”
The Netherlands stands alone at the bottom
The Netherlands has the shortest average working week in Europe, roughly two hours less than the next-closest countries, Germany, Norway and Denmark, which all sit at 33.9 hours. Jorge Cabrita, a senior research manager at Eurofound, pointed to the Netherlands’ unusually high rate of part-time work. Nearly 43% of Dutch workers are part-time — far more than in any other EU country.
“The Netherlands has shifted to more part-time working that has helped to reduce the average working week,” Spencer said. “However, the working week for full-time workers is still closer to 40 hours.”
Austria (34.0), Belgium (34.3) and Finland (34.7) also fall below 35 hours per week.
In these seven countries, the average workday is under seven hours across a five-day week.
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Germany works less than France, Italy and Spain
Among the EU’s four largest economies, Germany has the shortest week, about 1.7 hours fewer than France (35.6), 2.2 hours fewer than Italy (36.1), and 2.4 hours fewer than Spain (36.3).
“Shorter working hours in Germany partly reflect the strength of unions and the positive effect of collective bargaining,” he said.
Other notable figures: Poland at nearly 39 hours, Romania (38.2), Czechia (37.5), Hungary (37.4), Switzerland at roughly 36 hours, Sweden (35.4) and Ireland (35.1).
Why the gap is so wide
Northern and Western European countries generally have shorter working weeks than Eastern and Central European ones. Cabrita said the differences come down to three main factors: how working time is set, the mix of employment types, and the broader economic structure. Countries where trade unions and collective bargaining play a bigger role in setting working-time limits tend to have shorter actual hours, he noted. Stronger bargaining is also linked to less overtime and better compliance with labor rules.
Employment structure matters a lot. The larger the share of part-time workers, the lower the average working hours. Self-employed workers, who have more control over their schedules, usually log longer hours than employees — especially if they employ others.
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Different industries also pull averages in different directions. Some sectors simply require longer hours than others.
Which occupations work the most — and least
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers have the longest average week in the EU at 42 hours. Managers follow at about 40.5 hours, and armed forces occupations at 39.4 hours.
Elementary workers average just 31.8 hours per week.
Clerical support workers and service and sales workers (34.5) are also well below the EU average.
The data doesn’t capture everything. It doesn’t track second jobs, unpaid overtime, or the growing number of people working irregular schedules through digital platforms. But it does offer a clear snapshot of who’s putting in the hours — and who isn’t.