How many hours do persons in employment usually work on average per week? Working hours are a major variable of the quality of employment. Hours worked are usually linked to both salaries and workload as well as to the possibility of balancing work and private interests. The group of persons in employment consists of employees, selfemployed and unpaid family workers. This indicator covers all persons in employment aged 15 years and older.
In 2023, fulltime employees worked 40 hours per week
The usual weekly working hours of all employed persons in 2023 in Germany amounted 34.3 hours. As the number of hours worked depends considerably on the proportion of parttime employed, fulltime employees (40.2 hours per week) and parttime employees (20.8 hours per week) should be examined separately.
Working hours decreasing since 1991
All together the usual weekly working hours have decreased by 4.1 hours since 1991 (38.4 hours per week). When examining fulltime and parttime workers separately, however, it is noticeable that, particularly for fulltime employees, the number of hours worked has remained rather constant over the years (1991: 41.4 hours). The number of parttime employees has declined slightly between 1991 (20.0 hours) and 2012 (18.2 hours). Thereafter, weekly working hours increased slightly again for parttime workers. The average number of hours worked by all persons employed is influenced by the increasing proportion of parttime employed. In 1991, this proportion was about 14% of all persons in employment and it increased to 30.2% in 2023.
| Country | Hours | Change compared with 2017 in hours |
|---|---|---|
| Source: Labour Force Survey. . = Numerical value unknown or not to be disclosed. | ||
| Netherlands | 31.3 | 1.0 |
| Denmark | 33.7 | 0.3 |
| Norway | 34.1 | 0.2 |
| Germany (until 1990 former territory of the FRG) | 34.4 | -0.6 |
| Finland | 35.1 | -1.6 |
| Switzerland | 35.3 | 0.6 |
| Ireland | 35.6 | -0.7 |
| Austria | 35.6 | -0.8 |
| Belgium | 36.2 | -1.3 |
| European Union (27 countries) | 36.9 | -0.2 |
| France | 37.0 | -0.2 |
| Estonia | 37.3 | -1.2 |
| Italy | 37.3 | 0.1 |
| Spain | 37.6 | -0.1 |
| Sweden | 37.6 | 1.2 |
| Luxembourg | 37.7 | 0.4 |
| Iceland | 38.0 | -1.1 |
| Latvia | 38.6 | -0.2 |
| Malta | 38.7 | -0.1 |
| Lithuania | 38.8 | 0.3 |
| Czechia | 39.2 | -1.0 |
| Slovenia | 39.2 | 0.2 |
| Hungary | 39.4 | -0.4 |
| Slovakia | 39.5 | -0.3 |
| Croatia | 39.6 | 0.0 |
| Portugal | 39.6 | 0.1 |
| Cyprus | 39.7 | 0.5 |
| Bulgaria | 40.0 | -0.8 |
| Poland | 40.0 | -0.5 |
| Romania | 40.1 | 0.4 |
| Greece | 40.9 | -1.1 |
| Serbia | 42.5 | -0.4 |
Weekly working hours in Germany is below European average
With 34.4 weekly working hours in 2023, Germany was somewhat below the European average (36.9 hours). Persons employed in Serbia worked particularly long hours (42.5 hours), while the Netherlands showed the lowest value with 31.3 hours per week. Again, it should be noted here that this figure is influenced by a country’s proportion of part-time employment. The Netherlands had similar results as the Federal Republic of Germany for fulltime and parttime employees, amounting to 39.2 hours (fulltime) and to 21.3 hours (parttime) per week.
Information on the Indicator
Description or definition
Arithmetic mean of hours usual worked of all employed persons (over 15 years and older) per week.
Source
Labour Force Survey
Information for Interpretation
It is recommended to examine the results separately for fulltime and parttime employees as the parttime rate affects the average number of hours worked.
The microcensus with the integrated European labour force survey has been redesigned in 2020. The list of questions and the concept of the sample survey were modified, and with the introduction of an online questionnaire, the form of data collection were also changed. The results from survey year 2020 onward are therefore comparable with those of previous years only to a limited extent.
Further methodological changes affecting the results were performed in 2005, 2011 and 2021. Consequently, the results for those years can be compared with the results for previous years to a limited extent only.
The extrapolation of microcensus data uses the population figures from the 2011 Census, which was conducted as at 9 May 2011. The results have been revised from 2010 onwards. With effect from the year 2016, the sample is based on the 2011 census data. This transition affects the comparability of the results with previous years.
For more information please refer to Methods: Quality Reports and Explanations (only in German).
Further information
Redesigned microcensus as of 2020