Türkiye tops Europe in weekly working hours

In 2023, Türkiye recorded the highest average weekly working hours in Europe, with an average of 44.6 hours, ranking 27th globally.

According to data gathered by Visual Capitalist from the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) dataset ranging from 2021 to 2023 and covering eight of the 187 ILO member states, employees worldwide work an average of 43.9 hours per week.

Balkan countries stand out in Europe

As per ILO data, Türkiye stands out with its working hours surpassing both global and European averages. Meanwhile, European countries tend to have shorter average weekly working hours, employees in the Netherlands, for instance, work an average of 29.8 hours per week.

On the other hand, Balkan countries dominated the top 10 list in Europe, following Türkiye.

Rank	Countries	Weekly working hours	GDP per capita (IMF’s 2024 estimations)
1st	Türkiye	44.6	$15,665.943
2nd	Montenegro	44.1	$12,802.124
3rd	Albania	43.7	$9,598.191
4th	Kosovo	42.9	$6,333.918
5th	Bosnia and Herzegovina	41.4	$8,220.816
6th	Kyrgyzstan	41.3	$2,228.777
7th	Serbia	41.1	$12,513.826
8th	Romania	39.8	$20,088.859
9th	Moldova	39.7	$7,368.494
10th	Russia	39.6	$14,952.904

In the top 10 countries by working hours around the world, the average workweek exceeds 48 hours, with India recording the highest at 56 hours.

Rank	Countries	Weekly working hours	GDP per capita (IMF’s 2024 estimations)
1st	India	56	$2,697.563
2nd	Bhutan	53.3	$4,068.072
3rd	Bangladesh	50.4	$2,624.532
4th	Uganda	50.3	$1,186.529
5th	Cambodia	49.5	$2,743.991
6th	Pakistan	49.2	$1,587.604
7th	Sudan	49	$606.289
8th	UAE	48.7	$49,549.588
9th	Jordan	48.4	$4,682.081
10th	Zimbabwe	48.1	$2,113.811

Four of the five countries with the longest workweeks are located in the Asia-Pacific region, which is the most populated region of the world: India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Cambodia.

Economy, cultural norms and policies play role

The ILO report highlights that working hours reflect differences in cultural norms, economic structures, and labor policies, leading to significant regional disparities in averages.

Worker definition of ILO differs as it only includes individuals employed under an employer within the term, excluding self-employed individuals.

According to ILO standards, working more than 48 hours per week is considered excessive due to its adverse effects on health, safety, productivity and work-life balance.