Working week in Russia and the world: how many hours per week do Russians work
In 2025 the employed Russian worked on average 38.1 hours per week. The same, 38 hours, is the case for Americans and residents of South Korea; Germans work 33 hours, the Dutch 30, and Turks 43. Below is a comparison of 57 countries since 2010, a breakdown of Russian employees by industry, age and gender, and an answer to the question of who really has a week longer than forty hours. The charts open on the site in full, the countries and industries in them can be changed.
How many hours per week are worked in Russia
Rosstat counts not the contractual working time, but the actually worked time: how many hours a person spent at the main job during the surveyed week. In 2025 across the country this was 38.1 hours per employed person. The number of employed was 74,446 thousand people.
The distribution looks like this:
| Hours worked per week | Employed, thousand | Share |
|---|---|---|
| less than 9 hours | 374 | 0.5% |
| 9-15 hours | 489 | 0.7% |
| 16-20 hours | 1,036 | 1.4% |
| 21-30 hours | 1,430 | 1.9% |
| 31-40 hours | 66,969 | 90.0% |
| 41-50 hours | 1,850 | 2.5% |
| 51 hours and more | 551 | 0.7% |
| temporarily absent | 1,747 | 2.3% |
Nine out of ten employees fall into the "31-40 hours" basket. That is the usual five‑day workweek. A short week (up to 30 hours) is had by 3,329 thousand people, about 4.5%. More than forty hours are worked by 2,401 thousand, that is 3.2%, and over fifty hours only by 551 thousand, 0.7%.
Those whose week reaches fifty hours or more are less than one percent. Note: this is a household survey, people themselves report the hours worked, and the accounting is based on the main job.
Table "Employed by length of working week and industries" with the full distribution by 19 types of activity is available on the site.
Russia and the World: Who Has the Longer Week
Rosstat compiled a single table for 57 countries, data from 2010 onward. Average number of hours worked per week in 2024:
Shortest week:
- Netherlands: 30 hours;
- Denmark: 32;
- Germany, Norway, Armenia: 33 each;
- Austria, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Ireland: 34 each.
Longest:
- Tajikistan: 44 hours;
- Turkey, Mexico: 43 each;
- South Africa: 42;
- Serbia: 41;
- Belarus, Greece: 40 each.
Russia with 38 hours sits in the middle of the list. At the same level are the United States, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Moldova. Neighbours are a bit ahead: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have 39 hours, Belarus 40.
On the chart the Russian line is almost invisible because it runs level with the American one: 38 hours every year, except a dip to 36 in 2020. The other countries have shifted more noticeably over fourteen years. Germany reduced the week from 35 to 33 hours, the Netherlands from 32 to 30. Turkey fell from 48 to 43.
The biggest reduction record belongs to South Korea: 45 hours in 2010, 41 in 2019 and 38 in 2024. Over fourteen years minus seven hours, and the country from the "work the most" group moved to the Russian level. The table does not give reasons, it only shows numbers.
Open the dataset "Duration of the Working Week in Russia and Countries of the World" and select any countries.
Where the Week Shrank the Most
Besides Korea and Germany, notable downward shifts are seen in Belgium (from 37 to 34), the Czech Republic and Hungary (from 40 to 37), Luxembourg (from 38 to 35) and Estonia (from 38 to 36). In Russia nothing changed over the same period.
Which Countries Work Longer Than Russians
Above the Russian level of 38 hours in 2024 are Belarus (40), Greece (40), Serbia (41), Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and North Macedonia (39 each), Chile and Brazil (39 each), Mexico (43), Turkey (43), South Africa (42), Tajikistan (44). For Egypt and Thailand the latest data are from 2023: 44 and 42 hours respectively.
Working week by sector
Within the country the spread is small but noticeable. In 2025 the longest hours are in construction and transport: 39.2 hours. Next are information and communication (39.0) and trade (38.9). The shortest week is in agriculture (34.5 hours) and education (35.4).
Agriculture stands out not because people rest there. It has many people with a low workload: 190 thousand work less than nine hours per week, another 255 thousand from nine to fifteen. Together this is 445 thousand out of 3,979 thousand, i.e., 11%. Of all person‑hours worked in the sector (297,688 thousand per week) 154,817 thousand, 52%, go to production for own consumption rather than for sale.
In education the short week is also visible in the numbers: 342 thousand people work 21 to 30 hours, 166 thousand 16 to 20. Another 359 thousand were temporarily absent at the time of the survey.
Health care works 37.3 hours, culture and sport 37.8. Mining of mineral resources gives 38.7, manufacturing industries 38.6.
Men and women, young and old
The latest cross‑section by sex and age from Rosstat for 2024. The average week then was 38.2 hours:
| Group | Hours per week |
|---|---|
| Men | 39.2 |
| Women | 37.2 |
| 15‑19 years | 31.3 |
| 20‑29 years | 37.7 |
| 40‑49 years | 38.7 |
| 60‑64 years | 37.8 |
| 65‑69 years | 35.8 |
| 70 years and older | 30.4 |
Men work two hours more than women. The gap is also visible in long weeks: more than forty hours in 2024 were worked by 1,933 thousand men (5.1% of employed men) and 905 thousand women (2.5%). Men with a long week are twice as many in terms of share. Separately, women are more often temporarily absent: 3.4% versus 1.6% for men. The table does not name the reasons.
The peak load falls on the 40‑49 age group, after sixty it declines. The shortest week is among teenagers (31.3 hours) and those over seventy: 30.4 hours. By the way, we wrote separately about working older people: how many pensioners are in Russia and how many of them work. And the difference in earnings between men and women is examined in the article men's and women's salaries in Russia.
Open the dataset "Employed by length of working week and age groups"
Does working time increase over the years
There is a second measure: how many hours per year a worker in organizations (excluding small businesses) works. In mining, this was 1,737 hours in 2020 and 1,796 in 2024. In manufacturing, the increase is stronger: from 1,677 to 1,776 hours, that is almost one hundred hours per year (plus 5.9%).
The total volume of worked time in the economy over the same period rose from 146,012 to 153,245 million person‑hours, by 5%. The series starts in 2020, when hours fell due to the pandemic, so part of the growth is a return to normal. But it did not stop, and in 2024 it was higher than in 2021 (148,933 million).
Why do annual hours rise while the weekly 38‑hour standard remains unchanged? The two measures are calculated differently: one from a survey of people, the other from organization reports. Both indicate the same thing: working time in Russia is not shrinking, unlike in Germany or South Korea.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours per week does the average Russian work?
38.1 hours in 2025 according to Rosstat's labour force survey. For 90% of the employed, this ranges from 31 to 40 hours.
How does this compare with other countries?
In 2024, Germany 33 hours, France 36, the United Kingdom 35, the United States 38, Turkey 43, Mexico 43. The shortest week is in the Netherlands (30 hours).
Which sector has the longest working hours?
Construction and transport both at 39.2 hours per week, the shortest in agriculture (34.5).
Who works longer, men or women?
Men: 39.2 hours versus 37.2 for women (2024 data).
How many Russians work more than 40 hours per week?
In 2025, 2,401 thousand people, that is 3.2% of the employed. More than 50 hours were worked by 551 thousand, 0.7%.
Summary
The Russian working week is 38.1 hours and has not changed since 2010: the United States has the same figure, while Germany, the Netherlands and South Korea have moved down over these years. Nine out of ten employed people work between 31 and 40 hours, only 3.2% work more than forty. The longest week is in construction and transport (39.2), the shortest in agriculture (34.5), men work two hours more than women. The annual volume of hours for employees of organisations has increased since 2020.