Nearly eight hours apart: Who works the longest weeks in Europe?

New Eurostat figures reveal stark differences in working hours across Europe.

People in the EU work an average of 35.9 hours per week, according to the latest data on actual working hours from the bloc's statistical office. The figure covers full-time and part-time workers aged 20 to 64 in their main job.

The data also highlights significant differences between countries, raising questions about why some Europeans work much longer hours than others.

Balkan countries record the longest working hours

Within the EU, actual weekly working hours range from 31.9 hours in the Netherlands to 39.6 hours in Greece. When EU candidate countries and EFTA members are included, the figure rises to 42.4 hours in Turkey. Two other candidate countries closely follow: Bosnia and Herzegovina (40.9 hours) and Serbia (40.6 hours).