Greece has claimed a negative record in the European Union for weekly working hours, according to a recent Eurostat report. The data for the second quarter of 2025 shows that 20.9% of Greek employees aged 20-64 work more than 45 hours per week when combining their main and secondary jobs.
Across the EU, 10.8% of employees work over 45 hours weekly. After Greece, the highest percentages were recorded in Cyprus (16.6%) and Malta (14.6%), while the lowest were in Bulgaria (2.5%), Latvia (4.1%), and Romania (5.9%).
Most Common Weekly Working Hours
The majority of EU workers, 72.3%, worked between 20 and 44 hours per week, combining all employment. Countries with the highest share in this category were Bulgaria (92.8%), Romania (90.6%), and Latvia (86.9%).
In contrast, 16.9% of EU employees worked 19 hours or fewer weekly. This was most common in the Netherlands (26.8%), Denmark (25.5%), and Austria (25.3%), while the lowest percentages were in Romania (3.5%), Bulgaria (4.6%), and Greece (6.1%).
The data underscores significant disparities in work culture and labor practices across the European Union, with Greece standing out for its high share of long-hour workers.
