Greece Tops EU in Working Hours Far Above the Average, Eurostat Reveals

Eurostat information amusement Greece leads the EU successful moving hours. Credit: Flickr / Duane Storey / CC BY NC ND 2-0

Greece stands retired arsenic the European Union’s person successful working hours, with employees clocking successful acold supra the bloc’s average.

Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, reports that successful the 2nd 4th of 2025, 20.9% of Greek workers aged 20 to 64 worked much than 45 hours per week—nearly treble the EU mean of 10.8%.

The figures item Greece’s entrenched civilization of agelong workweeks and underline crisp contrasts with different subordinate states wherever shorter schedules are the norm.

Overtime contrasts crossed the union

While Greece tops the list, it is not unsocial successful signaling precocious levels of overtime. Cyprus follows with 16.6%, and Malta with 14.6%.

At the different extremity of the spectrum, Bulgaria (2.5%), Latvia (4.1%), and Romania (5.9%) study the lowest shares of employees moving beyond 45 hours, underscoring the diverseness of enactment cultures and labor structures crossed the EU.

Standard workweeks inactive dominate

Despite these disparities, most workers successful Europe support accepted schedules. Eurostat information amusement that 72.3% of employed individuals enactment betwixt 20 and 44 hours per week, reflecting the emblematic modular crossed the Union.

This bulk indicates that, portion agelong workweeks drawback headlines, they are acold from the ascendant acquisition for astir EU workers.

In Q2 2025, 10.8% of EU employed radical worked much than 45 hours per week successful their main and 2nd occupation combined.🕑💼

Highest in:
🇬🇷 Greece (20.9%)
🇨🇾 Cyprus (16.6%)
🇲🇹 Malta (14.6%)

Lowest in:
🇧🇬 Bulgaria (2.5%)
🇱🇻 Latvia (4.1%)
🇷🇴 Romania (5.9%)

👉 https://t.co/UpgLjYROGT pic.twitter.com/0vsKqoDHl4

— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) October 7, 2025

Part-Time employment reveals different divide

The survey besides sheds airy connected part-time employment. Overall, 16.9% of workers successful the EU reported schedules of less than 19 hours per week.

Northern and Western European countries pb this category, with the Netherlands (26.8%), Denmark (25.5%), and Austria (25.3%) signaling the highest shares.

In contrast, Romania (3.5%), Bulgaria (4.6%), and Greece (6.1%) amusement the lowest reliance connected part-time work.

Balancing productivity and Well-Being

The findings constituent to broader questions astir labour practices and work-life equilibrium crossed Europe. For Greece, the consistently agelong hours item pressures wrong its labour market, shaped by some taste expectations and economical realities.

For different nations, particularly those with greater part-time flexibility, the information suggest alternate approaches to balancing productivity with idiosyncratic well-being.