EU Working Hours: Turkey’s 42-Hour Week Tops the Chart, the Netherlands’ 32-Hour Week Bottoms Out

Eurostat’s latest survey of employees aged 20-64 shows an EU average of 35.9 hours per week. Including candidate states and EFTA members, the range runs from 31.9 hours in the Netherlands to 42.4 hours in Turkey. Only Turkey (42.4), Bosnia and Herzegovina (40.9) and Serbia (40.6) exceed 40 hours; Greece (39.6), North Macedonia (39.5) and Bulgaria (38.7) follow. At the opposite end, the Netherlands is followed by Germany, Norway and Denmark (33.9), Austria (34.0), Belgium (34.3) and Finland (34.7).

Turkey records Europe's longest working week at 42.4 hours

Part-time contracts account for 43 % of Dutch employment, the EU’s highest share. Sector data show agricultural, forestry and fishery workers average 42 hours, managers 40.6 hours, armed forces 39.4 hours; elementary occupations average 31.8 hours, clerical support 34.0 hours, service-and-sales 34.5 hours.

EuronewsTurkey records Europe's longest working week at 42.4 hours

Researchers link longer hours in Balkan economies to lower productivity and limited worker power, noting that workers rarely choose schedules. Differences in working-time regimes, union strength and collective bargaining matter. Germany’s shorter week reflects strong union influence. A larger share of part-time work compresses averages, while self-employed workers tend to log longer hours than employees. Economic structure and sector composition also affect national totals.

EuronewsTurkey records Europe's longest working week at 42.4 hours

Professor David Spencer (University of Leeds) says the extended hours in Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia stem from lower productivity and weaker collective bargaining, with employer-driven norms shaping schedules. He notes Germany’s short week results from robust union representation and collective agreements. Jorge Cabrita (Eurofound) highlights working-time regimes, the high part-time share in the Netherlands, and self-employment’s impact on longer hours. Both stress that sectoral composition and labour-market structures are decisive.

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• “In no country do workers 'choose' the hours they work: rather, they work a 'normal' set of hours (the latter being influenced by employers). Lower productivity may explain the longer hours in the above countries plus the lack of worker power,” — Professor David Spencer, University of Leeds

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• “The Netherlands has shifted to more part-time working that has helped to reduce the average working week; however, the working week for full-time workers is still closer to 40 hours,” — Professor David Spencer, University of Leeds

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• “Shorter working hours in Germany, for example, partly reflect the strength of unions and the positive effect of collective bargaining,” — Professor David Spencer, University of Leeds

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• “The role of trade unions and collective bargaining Cabrita said countries where trade unions and collective bargaining play a larger role in setting working-time limits tend to have shorter actual working hours.” — Jorge Cabrita, Eurofound

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