The 34 Hardest-Working Countries, Ranked

Mexico is the hardest-working country on the planet, with the average person working 2207 hours or  276 days per year. That’s what media company Visual Capitalist discovered when ranking the average full- and part-time employment working hours of the 38 member states in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 

Among the 34 countries for which data was available, Costa Rica (2171 hours and 271 days) and Chile (1953 hours, 244 days) joined Mexico in the top three. Those results could be explained by factors such as the economic importance of labor-intensive industries like agriculture, an absence of social welfare programs, and lower wages, all of which necessitate people working more and longer days. 

Greece ranks fourth, a position it may owe to nationwide efforts to boost economic growth in the wake of a prolonged financial crisis, and which it is likely to maintain as the government introduces a six-day work week. Israel and South Korea likely appear near the top of the ranking due to their extreme work cultures, with employees expected to clock in more hours than those in other countries. 

Here’s how they stacked up:

Despite advertising itself as a country of industry and tireless work ethic, the United States ranks ninth, with the average American working a total of 1799 hours or 225 days per year—less than countries like Canada or Poland but more than other high-income countries in the West like France, Norway, or Germany. Thanks to paid vacation days, affordable insurance, and other government protections, workers in those countries can afford a better work-life balance. 

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