Typical working hours by country

Why headline averages can mislead

The "average weekly hours" column reflects what the OECD and ILO count: paid hours actually worked by employed people, averaged across full-time and part-time workers. That is why the Netherlands sits near 31 hours despite a 40-hour full-time standard: roughly half the workforce is part-time. Conversely, Japan and South Korea report figures that look moderate but mask extensive unpaid overtime (in Japanese, sabisu zangyou) and after-hours obligations that surveys struggle to capture. China's tech sector 996 schedule (9am to 9pm, six days a week) was ruled illegal by the Supreme People's Court in 2021 but persists in practice.

Weekend variations

Most of the world uses Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, but several countries do not. Saudi Arabia and Egypt observe Friday-Saturday as the official weekend, with Friday taking the cultural role of the Sabbath. Israel also runs Friday-Saturday, with Shabbat observed sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, leaving Sunday as a normal working day. The United Arab Emirates is the most recent mover: in January 2022 it shifted the public sector and most private firms from a Friday-Saturday to a Saturday-Sunday weekend, with a half-day on Friday, partly to align with global financial markets. In India, many IT services firms and smaller employers still run a six-day week with only Sunday off, although larger multinationals have adopted the Saturday-Sunday weekend. Vietnam similarly runs a six-day manufacturing week in many sectors.

Long lunches, siestas, and split days

Spain's traditional split workday (roughly 9-14 and 16-19 around an afternoon siesta) is fading: many offices in Madrid and Barcelona now run a continuous 9-18 schedule closer to the wider European pattern. Italy follows a similar trajectory, with the split shop-hours day (9-13, 14:30-18:30) more common outside the big northern cities. Mexico keeps a longer official day with an extended midday meal (la comida) typically taken between 14:00 and 16:00. France retains the long lunch outside Paris, and the statutory 35-hour workweek caps weekly hours for most full-time employees.

Related references

• Week start by country (Monday, Sunday, or Saturday)
• Working days calculator
• Best cities for remote work

Average weekly hours are most-recent available figures drawn from the OECD Average Annual Hours Worked dataset and ILOSTAT (typically 2023 reference year). Individual sources for each row are noted in the underlying data file. Office hour conventions are typical patterns observed in white-collar employment and vary by sector and seniority.