Hardest Working Countries 2024

In the United States, people often consider "9-to-5" (9am to 5pm) to be the typical office day. Most U.S. workers work an average of 36.4 hours per week. Around the world, however, many people work longer hours. Cultural attitudes, workplace laws and conventions, and socio-economic factors, among other influences, determine the number of hours employees are expected to work. Additionally, some people need to work longer hours to provide for their personal or familial needs. The hardest working countries in the world are not necessarily the wealthiest countries.

Employees who work longer hours do not necessarily earn higher annual wages than those who work shorter hours, even within the same continent, such as Europe. For example, if the average worker in the Netherlands makes $54,262 annually, working 37.3 hours per week, the average worker in Portugal earns only $25,487 working 40.7 hours per week. In terms of sheer hours worked, developing countries tend to outpace developed countries. In fact, several developed countries are experimenting with a 4-day work week with the goal of enabling their citizens to enjoy a healthier work/life balance and avoid becoming overworked.

Top 12 Hardest Working Countries in the World (by actual weekly hours worked per employee, ILOSTAT, 2024):

While employees in several European countries work less than 40 hours per week on average, that is not the case or feasible in other countries worldwide. In the United States, many full-time employees struggle with work-life balance and often forgo vacation time to get more done in the office. However, American workers may be surprised at the average number of hours workers put in in other countries every week.

Top 10 Hardest Working Countries in the OECD (2022)

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental collective of 38 developed and mostly high-income countries, whose collective Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $57.9 trillion USD comprised just over 60% of the global GDP of $96.1 trillion USD in 2021.

1. Colombia

The people of Colombia work much harder than workers in any of their fellow OECD members, clocking in an average of 2,405 hours per year. Recent labor reforms set out to reduce the workweek from 48 to 42 hours by 2026 to improve work-life balance and productivity. The reduction was to result in 47 hours per week by 2023, decreasing annually without affecting pay or benefits, (Chambers & Partners, 2023).

2. Mexico

Mexico was the hardest working nation in 2021 at 2,216 hours annually but occupies the second place in the list for 2022 with 2,226 hours. Although Mexico has labor laws that limit the workweek to 48 hours per week, they are rarely enforced because of high unemployment and low pay. Mexico is one of the only two countries in the OECD (along with Turkey) that are considered middle-income countries.

3. Costa Rica

Costa Rica is the third-hardest-working country in the OECD, its employees working an average of 2,149 hours in 2022. Because of a high poverty rate and relatively high unemployment, Costa Ricans must often work very long hours to provide for themselves and their families. However, their number of hours worked had decreased from 2016, when workers clocked in 2,204.7 hours in a year—the highest number of any OECD country in recent years.

4. Chile

On average, Chilean workers clocked in 1,962 hours in 2022, about 158 more than American workers. Despite a legal limit of 45 hours per week, roughly 16% of all workers work more than 50 hours a week. Chile suffers from very high social inequality, with the wealthiest 20% of the population bringing in approximately $31,000 per year and the bottom 20% taking home barely $2,400 annually.

5. South Korea

South Koreans worked an average of 1,901 hours in 2022. Since 2015, this number has gradually decreased from 2,083 hours, partially thanks to the government passing a law requiring workers to take time off. The law is a response to the country's declining birth rates and productivity and is intended to give people time to start families, improve living standards, and create more jobs.

6. Israel

On average, Israeli workers put 1,892 hours into their jobs in 2022. Israel has a large number of very skilled people in employment who work hard at their jobs. As one of the most innovative countries in the world, Israel is a global leader in the intensity of R&D and has a deep pool of talent in the fields of STEM, research and development, and entrepreneurship.

7. Greece

Greece is the seventh-hardest-working country in Europe, logging an average of 1,886 hours in 2022 (the non-OECD country Russia was first in Europe in 2021 with 1,874). The Greek economy was heavily impacted by the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. Greece's high budget deficit and public debt, combined with huge losses of tax revenues due to systematic tax evasion, caused the country's debt-to-GDP ratio to skyrocket. This, in turn, wreaked havoc on the country's national debt level and credit terms and (among other effects) caused the unemployment rate to rise very quickly. While Greece now appears to be on much more stable financial footing, the unemployment rate is still relatively high, at 16.3% in 2020, which often forces those who are employed to work longer hours to make up for unemployed family members' lost wages.

8. Malta

The Maltese people put in an average of 1,882 work hours in 2022. The average workweek here is just under 34 hours, and annual wages in Malta are around $27K per year.

9. Russia

Russia was the ninth-hardest-working country in the world in 2022. The Russian worker averaged 1,874 hours, just below the Maltese counterpart. Russians work about 38 hours per week; workers in some sectors, such as the mining and oil industries, often work more than 40 hours. Russian workers are legally entitled to significant overtime compensation, which ensures fair pay for long work hours.

10. Cyprus

The Cypriots averaged 1,837 hours worked in 2022. Employees are entitled to overtime compensation and get at least 20 days of paid leave for a five-day week or 24 days for a six-day week​.

11. Poland

The Polish people worked an average of 1,815 hours in 2022. While the average workweek is under 40 hours, about 10% of working men work over 50 hours per week. Annual wages are relatively low in Poland, at an average of just under $22K per year, (Statista, 2023).