New research has placed Mexico at the top of the list forย most hoursย worked, with employees in the country putting in 2137 hours annually.
This is followed by Costa Rica, at 2059.6 hours a year, Korea at 1967 hours a year, and Greece at 1949 hours a year.
At the other end of the scale,ย Denmark,ย Germanyย andย Norwayย have the lowest average annual working hours, all coming in at below 1400.
According to the data from Instant Offices, between 2015 and 2019, the countries experiencing the sharpest increase in the number of annual hours worked were the Czech Republic, New Zealand and the UK, rising by 32, 28 and 11 hours respectively.
Meanwhile, Korea saw the most significant decline in annual working hours in the same period, dropping by 116 hours. This was followed by Costa Rica, with an 88.6-hour decrease, and Chile, with an 84-hour drop.
A survey of 27 countries revealed some key facts about how employees are balancing their days between time spent at their desks, and time spent on breaks. It seems the concept of a โlunch hourโ has become a thing of the past, with the averageย lunch breakย lasting 35 minutes.
Countries with the most extended lunch break times are predominantly in Asia, while the lowest are mostly found in Europe.
Top five countries with the longest lunch breaks:
| Country | Lunch Break Duration |
| Brazil | 48 minutes |
| Malaysia | 47 minutes |
| Japan | 46 minutes |
| Portugal | 44 minutes |
| South Korea | 43 minutes |
Top five countries with the shortest lunch breaks:
| Country | Lunch Break Duration |
| Mexico | 30 minutes |
| New Zealand | 30 minutes |
| Spain | 28 minutes |
| Poland | 24 minutes |
| Greece | 19 minutes |
Being in the top 5 countries for longest annual working hours and shortest daily lunch breaks, Mexico and Greece are some of the worldโs busiest (and likely most overworked) cities. Mexicoโs annual working hours have remained relatively steady with a small drop of 3 hours since 2015, while Greeceโs hours have risen slightly by 5.
With 74% of Greek workers reporting that they get only 15 minutes or no lunch break, Greece is undoubtedly one of the European nations most lacking in a healthy work-life balance.
Not only does Mexico have some of the longest annual hours and shortest break times, but it also currently has theย second-worst work-life balanceย score globally according to Statista (1.1, second only to Colombia at 0.9). The US and the UK were also among the worst-scoring countries, scoring 6 and 6.4 respectively.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands, which has some of the lowest annual working hours, is ranked as having theย best work-life balance, with a score of 9.5. Denmark and Norway, two more countries listed as having the lowest annual working hours, also made the top 10 for the best work-life balance.
To view the full list of which countries are working the longest hours, click here: https://www.instantoffices.com/blog/featured/worlds-busiest-countries/
