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Japan Reports Drop in Work Hours, Still Lags Behind Europe

2/23/2026

26 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

The Japanese government says progress in reducing karoshi is evident as average hours fell to 1,654.2 in the 2024 financial year, down 17.7 hours from the previous year.
Analysts caution that these figures may not be directly comparable to those of other countries.
For context, German workers averaged 1,331 hours and Danish workers averaged 1,379 hours.
The current Japanese average remains far below the 1980 level of 2,121 hours.

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Story summary

The Japanese government says progress in reducing karoshi is evident as average hours fell to 1,654.2 in the 2024 financial year, down 17.7 hours from the previous year.
Analysts caution that these figures may not be directly comparable to those of other countries.
For context, German workers averaged 1,331 hours and Danish workers averaged 1,379 hours.
The current Japanese average remains far below the 1980 level of 2,121 hours.