OECD: Greeks Work the Longest Hours in Europe, Germans the Fewest

OECD Data: Greeks Work the Longest Hours in Europe, Germans the Fewest

According to OECD data, Greeks work more hours a year than any other Europeans, and Germans work the fewest. In the 2013 figures charted by the World Economic Forum, the average Greek worker put in 2,060 hours, against 1,363 in Germany, a gap of almost 700 hours, or roughly four months of 40-hour weeks. Only Mexico and South Korea ranked higher among OECD members. The pattern has held since: in the latest OECD figures Greeks still work around 1,870 hours a year and Germans about 1,330.

Those numbers made headlines in July 2015, at the height of the Greek debt crisis, when Greeks were often portrayed in northern European media as unwilling to work. The data flatly contradict that stereotype. But they also do not mean Germans are lazy. Hours tell you how long people work, not how hard or how productively, and the reasons for the gap say a lot about how the two economies are built.

What the OECD chart shows

The chart, published by the World Economic Forum using OECD figures for 2013, ranks member countries by total hours worked per worker over the year. Mexico led with 2,237 hours, followed by South Korea (2,163) and Greece (2,060). Chile, Russia and several Central and Eastern European countries came next. The United States, at 1,788, sat just above the OECD average of 1,770.

At the bottom were Norway (1,408), the Netherlands (1,421), Denmark (1,438) and, last of all, Germany at 1,363. The UK, at 1,669, was below average too. Reports in August 2015 based on newer OECD data told the same story, with Greece at 2,042 hours and Germany at 1,371.

How the OECD measures hours worked

The OECD defines this indicator as the total number of hours actually worked in a year divided by the average number of people in employment. It counts paid overtime and part-time jobs and subtracts holidays, sick leave and other time off.

That definition has an important consequence. Because it is an average across everyone with a job, a country where many people work part-time will show low average hours, even if full-time employees there work long weeks. National statistical offices also collect the data differently, so statisticians generally advise using the figures to track trends within a country rather than to settle exact rankings between countries.

Why Greeks log so many hours

Several features of the Greek economy push average hours up:

Self-employment and small businesses. Greece has one of the highest shares of self-employed workers in the EU, including shopkeepers, farmers, taxi drivers and family-run tourism businesses, where long days are normal.
Few part-time jobs. Part-time work is less common than in northern Europe, so fewer short contracts pull the average down.
Seasonal tourism. Hotels, restaurants and island businesses often work very long hours during the summer season.
Crisis pressures. During the downturn after 2010, many people took on second jobs or longer shifts to make ends meet.

Why Germans work fewer hours

Germany’s low figure reflects policy and labour-market structure more than attitudes to work. Many German women and second earners work part-time, including in so-called mini-jobs, which lowers the average. Strong trade unions and collective agreements have negotiated shorter weeks in many sectors, and German law guarantees at least four weeks of paid holiday, with many agreements offering six. During the 2008–09 recession, the government also used Kurzarbeit, a short-time work scheme that cut hours instead of jobs.

The result is an economy that spreads work across more people for fewer hours each, while still producing a great deal.

Hours are not productivity

The more revealing comparison is how much each hour produces. OECD estimates of GDP per hour worked have long put Germany well ahead of Greece. More investment in machinery, technology and large export-oriented manufacturers means a German hour of work typically generates more output. Greece’s economy, with many small firms in tourism, retail and agriculture, has lower productivity per hour, which helps explain lower wages despite the long hours.

In other words, the chart corrects one myth without proving its opposite. Greeks are not lazy, and neither are Germans. Working longer is often a sign of a less productive economy rather than a more virtuous workforce.

The 2015 context and what has changed since

In the summer of 2015, Greece was negotiating its third bailout with creditors led by Germany, whose chancellor Angela Merkel and finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble were the public faces of austerity. A referendum on 5 July rejected creditors’ terms, yet a deal with even tougher conditions followed within days. Stereotypes about work ethic were used on both sides of the argument, and the OECD hours data became a popular rebuttal in Greece.

A decade on, the broad picture is unchanged. The most recent OECD figures put average annual hours at roughly 1,874 in Greece and 1,332 in Germany, with Mexico still around 2,200 and the OECD average about 1,740. In 2024 Greece also allowed a six-day working week in some businesses, a move criticised by unions, while in Germany pilot projects and union campaigns have explored whether a four-day week could ease labour shortages.

Sources: OECD: Hours worked indicator; OECD: GDP per hour worked; City AM, August 2015: Greeks work longer hours than any other Europeans; Wikipedia: List of countries by average annual labor hours. Chart: World Economic Forum, based on OECD data for 2013.

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