Hours worked per week of full-time employment

Annual average

The average number of hours corresponds to the number of hours the person normally works. This covers all hours including extra hours, either paid or unpaid, which the person normally works. It excludes the travel time between the home and the place of work as well as the main meal breaks (normally taken at midday). The distinction between full-time and part-time work is made on the basis of a spontaneous answer given by the respondent.

Additional information on Eurostat web page

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
European Union (changing composition)	42.1	42.1	41.9	41.7	41.6	41.4	41.5	41.7	41.9	41.9	41.8	..
EU (27 countries)	..	..	..	..	41.7	41.6	41.7	41.9	41.9	41.9	41.8	..
Euro area (changing composition)	41.4	41.5	41.3	41.2	41.2	41.0	41.1	41.4	41.6	41.6	41.6	..
Euro area (17 countries)	..	..	..	41.3	41.2	41.0	41.1	41.5	41.6	41.6	41.6	..
Euro area (16 countries)	..	..	..	41.3	41.2	41.0	41.1	41.5	41.6	41.6	41.6	..
Belgium	40.6	41.2	38.4	38.5	41.2	41.4	41.3	41.0	41.1	40.9	41.2	40.9
Bulgaria	..	..	..	..	41.4	41.6	41.3	41.8	41.5	41.7	41.9	42.0
Czech Republic	44.9	45.0	44.7	44.7	42.5	42.7	43.1	42.9	42.8	42.8	42.8	42.7
Denmark	39.9	40.1	40.0	40.6	40.3	40.3	40.3	40.3	40.3	40.4	38.9	38.8
Germany	41.7	41.7	41.8	41.8	41.6	41.4	41.0	41.3	41.5	41.8	41.7	41.7
Estonia	42.7	42.7	42.0	41.9	42.0	41.6	41.6	41.6	41.3	41.2	41.2	40.9
Ireland	43.2	42.9	42.1	42.0	41.5	41.3	40.9	40.7	40.6	40.2	40.1	40.0
Greece	44.4	44.5	44.8	44.3	44.2	44.2	44.3	44.1	44.2	44.1	43.8	43.7
Spain	42.3	42.3	42.2	42.1	42.0	41.8	41.6	41.7	42.3 ^(b)	42.2	42.0	41.9
France	41.1	41.0	40.9	40.2	39.6	38.9	40.7 ^(b)	40.8	41.0	41.1	41.1	41.0
Italy	40.5	40.6	40.5	40.6	40.6	40.5	40.5	41.4 ^(b)	41.2	41.1	41.1	41.1
Cyprus	..	..	42.6	42.6	41.8	41.7	42.0	42.4	42.3	41.8	41.7	41.9
Latvia	..	44.1	44.3	44.0	44.6	44.1	43.8	43.3	42.7	42.7	42.0	41.3
Lithuania	..	42.9	..	40.1	39.7	39.5	39.4	39.4	39.4	39.9	40.0	40.1
Luxembourg	40.3	40.3	40.6	40.7	40.3	40.2	40.8	40.9	40.9	40.4	39.9	40.0
Hungary	42.0	41.8	42.0	41.9	41.5	41.4	41.4	41.3	41.0	41.0	40.9	40.8
Malta	..	..	..	41.9	40.5	41.4	41.7	41.5	41.5	41.2	41.2	41.2
Netherlands	41.3	41.0	41.0	41.0	40.9	40.7	40.6	40.6	40.7	40.9	40.9	40.8
Austria	41.9	41.8	41.9	41.8	41.7	41.6	41.5	44.8 ^(b)	44.3	44.3	44.3	44.0
Poland	..	..	..	..	43.0	43.4	43.4	43.4	43.2	43.0	42.9	42.7
Portugal	43.1	43.1 ^(b)	42.4	42.0	41.9	41.9	41.6	41.8	41.6	41.5	41.6	41.6
Romania	41.5	41.1	41.1	41.2	40.9	41.8 ^(b)	41.8	41.5	41.4	41.1	41.0	41.1
Slovenia	43.8	43.9	43.6	43.1	43.2	43.1	42.6	42.9	42.9	42.5	42.5	42.5
Slovakia	..	42.6	42.2	42.2	42.6	42.2	41.0	41.2	41.5	41.6	41.6	41.5
Finland	40.9	40.9	41.0	40.9	40.7	40.6	40.6	40.4	40.5	40.3	40.3	40.3
Sweden	41.4	41.3	41.3	41.2	41.0	41.0	40.8	40.8	41.1 ^(b)	41.0	41.0	40.9
United Kingdom	44.9	44.8	44.3	44.2	44.2	43.9	43.7	43.4	43.2	43.0	43.0	43.0
Iceland	49.5	49.4	50.0	50.1	49.5	48.5	47.2	46.7	47.2	47.4	47.1	46.1
Norway	39.7	39.5	39.5	39.3	39.2	39.2	39.4	39.3	39.3	39.4	39.2	39.2
Switzerland	43.1	43.1	43.0	42.8	42.7	42.9	42.7	42.6	42.7	42.7	42.7	42.7
Montenegro	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Croatia	..	..	..	..	..	42.8	43.0	42.7	42.4	42.0	42.0	42.0
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	45.4	45.3	45.4
Turkey	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	55.1	53.9	53.6

(..) - not available
(b) - break in time series

Source: Eurostat