Annual Working Hours in Asia

How many hours do people in Asia work each year on average?

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This map shows us how many hours on average people work in Asia. People in Asia work many more hours than the average European. Compared to Europe, Russia has the third highest average annual working hours. But compared to Asia, it’s the third lowest. In Europe, there are only 4 countries where the average annual working hours are over 1,900 hours. In Asia there’s only one country where the average annual working hours are below 1,900 hours, Japan.

Japan obviously has by far the lowest average annual working hours in Asia. Behind Japan are Sri Lanka (1,923), Russia (1,965), Pakistan (1,967) and South Korea (1,980). These are the only countries in Asia where the average annual working hours are lower than 2,000 hours.

Workers in Cambodia (2,475), Myanmar (2,447), Bangladesh (2,419) and Singapore (2,330) have by far the longest annual working hours in Asia.

Keep in mind that the number of hours worked doesn’t necessarily mean more economic output. As we can see on this map of labour productivity, workers in Japan and South Korea are some of the most productive in Asia, while also working the lowest number of hours per year in Asia. Workers in Cambodia, Myanmar and Bangladesh have the highest average annual working hours in Asia, but are also the least productive workers in Asia in terms of GDP output per hour.

Data for this map comes from the University of Groningen.