The share of people working 49 hours or more every week has dropped in the past decade. However, the EU-wide figure hides striking discrepancies.

Brussels

According to Eurostat figures, 6.6% of employed people aged 20 to 64 in the European Union worked long hours in 2024, defined as 49 hours or more per week in their main job. This represents a decline from previous years, with 8.4% in 2019 and nearly 10% in 2014. Greece recorded the highest share of long-hour workers at 12.4%, followed by Cyprus and France, while Bulgaria, Latvia, and Lithuania had the lowest rates.

The data also shows that self-employed individuals are much more likely to work long hours, with over a quarter reporting such schedules compared to just 3.4% of employees. Certain occupations, such as skilled agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers, as well as managers, are particularly prone to longer working weeks.

Where in the EU are people working long hours?

Where in Europe do people work the most hours per week? As the summer holidays wind to an end, people are returning to their desks en masse. But in which countries are Europeans most likely to work long hours? Figures from Eurostat showed that 6.6% of employed people aged 20 to 64 in the EU worked long hours in 2024. Long hours are defined as usually spending 49 hours or more every week working in their main job. By contrast, the average working week across the EU was 36 hours last year. The share of people working long hours has decreased. In 2019, this figure was still 8.4%, while in 2014 it was almost 10. Behind this EU-wide figure, however, hide striking discrepancies on a national level. Among EU countries, Greece had the highest share of people working long hours, at 12.4%. Greece was followed by Cyprus and France. By contrast, far fewer people worked long hours in Bulgaria and in the Baltic countries of Latvia and Lithuania. Self-employed people are much more likely to spend 49 hours or more at work per week. More than a quarter of all self-employed respondents indicated working such hours, compared to 3.4% among employees. Long working hours were most common among skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers. More than a quarter of all employed people in that occupation group worked long hours. Meanwhile, this figure was 1 in 5 among managers.

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