Eurostat Shows Europe Workweeks Span 31.9 to 42.4 Hours, With Turkey Longest and Netherlands Shortest
Updated
Updated · IndexBox, Inc. · Jun 10
Eurostat Shows Europe Workweeks Span 31.9 to 42.4 Hours, With Turkey Longest and Netherlands Shortest
3 articles · Updated · IndexBox, Inc. · Jun 10
Summary
Eurostat’s latest figures put average actual weekly hours at 35.9 across the EU for workers aged 20 to 64, with national averages ranging from 31.9 hours in the Netherlands to 39.6 in Greece.
Turkey tops the wider European ranking at 42.4 hours, ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina at 40.9 and Serbia at 40.6; those three are the only countries above 40 hours a week.
The Netherlands sits at the bottom largely because part-time workers account for nearly 43% of employment, while Germany, Norway and Denmark follow at 33.9 hours each.
Researchers said the gap reflects labor-market structures as much as worker choice, citing lower productivity, weaker bargaining power and different working-time arrangements as possible drivers, with Balkan countries clustered at the long-hours end.