Countries by Long Work Hours

Complete ranking of 36 countries • Percentage of employees • Updated 2026

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Mexico leads all 36 countries in Long Work Hours with a value of 25.91% of employees, while Latvia ranks last at 0.49% of employees. This represents a 53-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.

What Long Work Hours Measures

Share of employees working very long hours, from OECD How's Life / Well-Being.

Why This Ranking Matters

Examining Long Work Hours across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.

Global Range

Values range from 0.49% of employees (Latvia) to 25.91% of employees (Mexico) — a 53-fold difference across 36 countries.

Regional Patterns

European countries dominate this ranking, holding 12 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.

Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 2.89% of employees to 9.22% of employees. The overall spread from 0.49% of employees to 25.91% of employees reflects significant global variation.

Notable Outliers

The top of the ranking is competitive: Mexico and Turkey are separated by only 15%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data. The bottom five countries are all from Europe, pointing to regional challenges that affect long work hours across the continent.

Continental Leaders

North America

Mexico

25.91% of employees

Europe

Turkey

22.53% of employees

Oceania

New Zealand

11.59% of employees

Asia

Israel

11.22% of employees

South America

Chile

5.20% of employees

Highest Long Work Hours

The 5 strongest Long Work Hours reads.

Mexico25.91% of employees Turkey22.53% of employees Colombia18.63% of employees Costa Rica15.05% of employees New Zealand11.59% of employees

Lowest Long Work Hours

The 5 lowest Long Work Hours reads.

Latvia0.49% of employees Lithuania1.17% of employees Hungary1.61% of employees Estonia1.96% of employees Netherlands1.97% of employees

Data Note

Rankings are based on the latest available data from OECD How's Life / Well-Being, covering 36 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.

Top 10 Countries

1stMexico25.91% of employees

2ndTurkey22.53% of employees

3rdColombia18.63% of employees

4thCosta Rica15.05% of employees

5thNew Zealand11.59% of employees

6thIsrael11.22% of employees

7thIceland10.51% of employees

8thAustralia10.17% of employees

9thUnited Kingdom9.2% of employees

10thUnited States9.2% of employees

Country Ladder

1stMexicoNorth America25.91% of employees 2ndTurkeyEurope22.53% of employees 3rdColombiaNorth America18.63% of employees 4thCosta RicaNorth America15.05% of employees 5thNew ZealandOceania11.59% of employees 6thIsraelAsia11.22% of employees 7thIcelandEurope10.51% of employees 8thAustraliaOceania10.17% of employees 9thUnited KingdomEurope9.2% of employees 10thUnited StatesNorth America9.2% of employees 11thPortugalEurope6.9% of employees 12thFranceEurope6.0% of employees 13thLuxembourgEurope5.6% of employees 14thChileSouth America5.2% of employees 15thSwedenEurope5.2% of employees 16thSwitzerlandEurope5.0% of employees 17thAustriaEurope4.2% of employees 18thNorwayEurope4.1% of employees 19thIrelandEurope3.9% of employees 20thBelgiumEurope3.6% of employees 21stCanadaNorth America3.4% of employees 22ndGreeceEurope3.2% of employees 23rdCzechiaEurope3.2% of employees 24thPolandEurope3.0% of employees 25thItalyEurope3.0% of employees 26thGermanyEurope2.9% of employees 27thSloveniaEurope2.9% of employees 28thSlovakiaEurope2.9% of employees 29thDenmarkEurope2.7% of employees 30thFinlandEurope2.5% of employees 31stSpainEurope2.3% of employees 32ndNetherlandsEurope2.0% of employees 33rdEstoniaEurope2.0% of employees 34thHungaryEurope1.6% of employees 35thLithuaniaEurope1.2% of employees 36thLatviaEurope0.49% of employees

Long Work Hours ranking for 36 countries
				Percentile
1st	Mexico	25.91% of employees	North America	100%
2nd	Turkey	22.53% of employees	Europe	97%
3rd	Colombia	18.63% of employees	North America	94%
4th	Costa Rica	15.05% of employees	North America	92%
5th	New Zealand	11.59% of employees	Oceania	89%
6th	Israel	11.22% of employees	Asia	86%
7th	Iceland	10.51% of employees	Europe	83%
8th	Australia	10.17% of employees	Oceania	81%
9th	United Kingdom	9.2% of employees	Europe	78%
10th	United States	9.2% of employees	North America	75%
11th	Portugal	6.9% of employees	Europe	72%
12th	France	6.0% of employees	Europe	69%
13th	Luxembourg	5.6% of employees	Europe	67%
14th	Chile	5.2% of employees	South America	64%
15th	Sweden	5.2% of employees	Europe	61%
16th	Switzerland	5.0% of employees	Europe	58%
17th	Austria	4.2% of employees	Europe	56%
18th	Norway	4.1% of employees	Europe	53%
19th	Ireland	3.9% of employees	Europe	50%
20th	Belgium	3.6% of employees	Europe	47%
21st	Canada	3.4% of employees	North America	44%
22nd	Greece	3.2% of employees	Europe	42%
23rd	Czechia	3.2% of employees	Europe	39%
24th	Poland	3.0% of employees	Europe	36%
25th	Italy	3.0% of employees	Europe	33%
26th	Germany	2.9% of employees	Europe	31%
27th	Slovenia	2.9% of employees	Europe	28%
28th	Slovakia	2.9% of employees	Europe	25%
29th	Denmark	2.7% of employees	Europe	22%
30th	Finland	2.5% of employees	Europe	19%
31st	Spain	2.3% of employees	Europe	17%
32nd	Netherlands	2.0% of employees	Europe	14%
33rd	Estonia	2.0% of employees	Europe	11%
34th	Hungary	1.6% of employees	Europe	8%
35th	Lithuania	1.2% of employees	Europe	6%
36th	Latvia	0.49% of employees	Europe	3%

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