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Labour & Employment

EU Long Working Hours Rate by Country (2025)

EU Long Working Hours Rate in 2025: 2.2 % of employed persons EU-27 average. Slovakia highest at 5.7, Poland lowest at 0.5. Eurostat (LFSA_QOE_4A6R2), 201…

Updated Annual Eurostat
EU-27 (2025)
2.2
% of employed persons
-0.1pp YoY
Highest
5.7
Slovakia
Lowest
0.5
Poland
Countries
23
EU member states

Data

Country% of employed personsYoY Change
Slovakia5.7-0.2pp
Latvia5.5-1.9pp
Slovenia5.3-0.4pp
Ireland4.8-1.2pp
Netherlands4.4-0.2pp
Malta4.1-0.1pp
Spain3.9-0.1pp
Finland2.4+0pp
France2.4+0pp
Germany2.3-0.1pp
Austria1.8-0.1pp
Belgium1.8+0.1pp
Croatia1.6+0.3pp
Czechia1.5+0.2pp
Portugal1.4+0pp
Sweden1.2-0.4pp
Greece1+0.2pp
Lithuania0.8+0.1pp
Romania0.7+0.2pp
Denmark0.6+0pp
Hungary0.6+0.1pp
Italy0.5-0.1pp
Poland0.5+0pp

About this Dataset

The share of EU employed persons who usually work 49 or more hours per week stood at 2.2% in 2025, continuing a gradual downward trend from 2.1% in 2018. Long working hours are a key work-life balance stress indicator and a proxy for potential non-compliance with the EU Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC), which limits average weekly hours to 48.

Among the 23 member states with valid data, Slovakia (5.7%) records the highest share, while Poland and Italy (both 0.5%) post the lowest. Central-eastern EU members tend to cluster at the higher end of the distribution; Nordic and western European countries typically record rates well below the EU average. Luxembourg's figures for 2023–2025 (97%+) have been excluded as they appear to reflect a data coding error in the Eurostat source dataset.

Data sourced from Eurostat Labour Force Survey via SDMX REST API (LFSA_QOE_4A6R2, nace_r2=TOTAL). Values cover all NACE sectors and are harmonised across member states.

Coverage spans 2018 through 2025. The chart shows the EU-27 aggregate trend; the table ranks member states by their latest share of long-hours workers.

Frequently Asked Questions

In 2025, **2.2%** of employed persons across the EU-27 usually worked 49 or more hours per week — Eurostat's threshold for 'long working hours'. This figure has edged downward in recent years, consistent with Europe's long-run trend toward shorter working weeks driven by regulatory minimum standards, collective bargaining, and the growth of part-time and hybrid arrangements.
Among the 23 EU member states with valid data, Slovakia (5.7%), Latvia (5.5%), and Slovenia (5.3%) record the highest shares of employees working 49+ hours weekly. Central-eastern and southern member states tend to have higher rates, linked to weaker working-time enforcement, higher shares of self-employment, and sectoral composition (construction, agriculture, retail). Nordic and western EU countries typically report the lowest rates. Note: Luxembourg's published figures for 2023–2025 (97%+) appear to reflect a data coding error in the Eurostat source — they are excluded from this table.
The EU-27 aggregate has trended gradually downward over the 2018–2025 period, from 2.1% to 2.2%. The decline is broad-based across member states, reflecting stricter enforcement of the EU Working Time Directive, increasing collective bargaining coverage, and the normalisation of hybrid and flexible working. However, cross-country divergence remains significant — member states still differ by up to 5 percentage points.
Eurostat measures long working hours through the EU Labour Force Survey (LFS), published annually under dataset code LFSA_QOE_4A6R2. The indicator is the percentage of employed persons aged 15 and over who report usually working 49 or more hours per week in their main job. 'Usually' refers to a typical week rather than exceptional periods. The EU Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) sets a maximum average of 48 hours per week including overtime, making 49+ hours an indicator of potential non-compliance or significant self-employment.
Extensive evidence links regular working hours of 49+ per week to elevated risks of cardiovascular disease, depression, sleep disorders, and workplace accidents. From an economic perspective, sustained overwork is associated with declining marginal productivity beyond 50 hours per week, higher employee turnover, and increased absenteeism — making this indicator relevant to ESG due diligence in labour-intensive PE portfolio companies. Countries with persistently high rates may face regulatory scrutiny under EU Working Time Directive enforcement actions.
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