The Truth About Working Hours in Europe vs. America
If you think Europeans have it easy compared to Americans, you’re only half right.
The average American full-time worker puts in around 42.9 hours a week. The EU average is 36.0 hours.
That gap alone is striking. But it hides something even more interesting: the differences inside Europe are just as dramatic as the differences between Europe and the US.
The Country That Works Hardest
Greece tops the EU rankings with 39.8 hours per week, according to Eurostat’s 2024 data.
That’s longer than the EU average, longer than France, longer than Germany, and only a few hours shy of the typical American work week.
Behind Greece come Bulgaria at 39.0 hours, Poland at 38.9, and Romania at 38.8. Every country in the top four sits in Eastern or Southeastern Europe.
And yet the stereotype most Americans carry around about Europe is the image of a Greek fisherman taking a three-hour lunch.
That image belongs to someone who does not actually live in Greece.
The Country That Works the Least
The Netherlands clocks just 32.1 hours per week, the shortest working week in the EU. Denmark, Germany, and Austria follow at 33.9 hours each.
Nearly half of all Dutch workers are in part-time employment, the highest rate in the OECD.
This evolved out of labor reforms in the 1980s and 90s that gave every worker the legal right to request reduced hours without losing benefits, job security, or career prospects.
Over decades it became normal. Unremarkable. Just how things work.
By the end of 2024, 82% of working-age Dutch people were employed, compared to 75% in the UK and 72% in the US. Working less didn’t hollow out the economy.
Where Americans Fit In
A full-time American worker puts in roughly 42.9 hours a week. That’s more than every single EU country, including Greece.
On vacation time, the gap is wider. Every EU country is legally required to offer workers at least 20 paid vacation days per year.
France mandates 30. Austria and France both sit at 25 days minimum.
The US mandates zero. The average American worker gets about 11 paid vacation days a year, and nearly 30% of workers get none at all.
Around 60% of Americans never take a vacation of two weeks or longer. About 40% report their workload actively prevents them from using the time off they do have.
The Greek Paradox
Greek workers put in the most hours in the EU and earn among the least. Labor productivity per hour worked in Greece sits at just 56.2% of the EU average.
Between 2019 and 2024, real hourly wages fell 4.7% even as productivity edged up 1.2%. GDP per capita in Greece stands at 70% of the EU average, the second lowest in the bloc.
More hours. Less pay. Less output per hour. It is not a formula that is working.
Greece passed a law allowing 13-hour workdays, capped at 37 days per year, with a 40% pay premium for the extra time.
The six-day work week has been revived in certain industries. Long hours are being baked deeper into the system, not reformed out of it.
The Part Americans Rarely Hear
The Netherlands consistently ranks among the most productive economies in Europe per hour worked, with an 82% employment rate and GDP per capita well above the EU average.
They got there by working 32 hours a week, taking their full vacation, and building a system where part-time work carries no stigma and no penalty.
The average Dutch worker puts in about 400 fewer hours per year than the average American. The debate about whether Americans should work less has been going on for decades. The Dutch stopped debating it in the 1980s.