Data for 2008

Average Weekly Hours Worked, 2008

Name: Average Weekly Hours Worked, 2008
Creator: International Labour Organization (ILO)
License: https://www.ilo.org/rights-and-permissions

2008, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Average Weekly Hours Worked, 2008 covers 187 countries on 3 measures. United Arab Emirates is highest, at 52.21; Vanuatu is lowest, at 26.30. The middle country reads 39.40. Against 2007, 182 values changed (77 up, 105 down), the same countries are covered.

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Average Weekly Hours Worked · Data for 2008

HighestUnited Arab Emirates

52.21

LowestVanuatu

26.30

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

187countries
3measures per country
2008the year it describes
176distinct values2 decimals, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Average Weekly Hours Worked, 2008, as published. ILO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 187 countries · select a heading to sort

Average Weekly Hours Worked, 2008: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	52.21	53.31	52.02	—
2	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	50.32	49.30	51.00	—
3	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	50.23	50.36	50.22	—
4	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	49.72	41.87	52.47	Real value
5	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	49.33	37.80	54.44	—
6	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	49.05	46.42	51.35	—
7	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	49.02	47.59	50.06	—
8	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	48.48	42.31	50.48	—
9	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	48.44	48.03	48.83	—
10	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	47.66	43.73	49.11	—
11	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	47.53	33.68	50.14	Real value
12	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	47.29	44.88	49.32	—
13	India`IND`Southern Asia	47.22	39.93	49.86	—
=14	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	47.21	45.37	48.66	—
=14	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	47.21	39.55	49.66	—
16	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	47.15	44.24	47.65	—
=17	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	46.90	46.80	47.00	Real value
=17	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	46.90	45.79	47.49	Real value
19	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	46.83	33.91	49.92	Real value
20	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	46.50	43.26	48.67	—
21	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	46.35	46.06	46.59	—
22	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	46.10	42.80	48.46	—
23	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	45.95	42.92	46.56	—
24	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	45.91	44.91	46.53	—
=25	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	45.60	44.75	46.36	Real value
=25	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	45.60	42.87	47.53	Real value
27	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	45.57	42.81	47.83	—
28	Colombia`COL`South America	45.52	40.54	48.63	Real value
29	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	45.48	42.75	46.42	—
30	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	45.47	35.92	47.90	Real value
31	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	45.42	44.96	45.80	—
32	Suriname`SUR`South America	45.01	40.77	47.28	—
33	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	44.95	30.71	50.30	—
34	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	44.90	42.67	46.57	—
35	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	44.89	40.39	46.95	—
36	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	44.84	44.11	45.26	—
37	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	44.60	43.16	45.77	Real value
38	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	44.56	33.94	48.29	—
39	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	44.53	43.47	45.51	—
40	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	44.42	41.49	47.11	—
41	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	44.32	34.51	45.83	—
42	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	44.07	43.62	44.47	—
43	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	43.90	41.18	46.03	Real value
44	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	43.70	36.37	47.94	—
45	Paraguay`PRY`South America	43.42	39.36	45.91	Real value
46	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	43.38	40.94	45.22	—
47	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	43.30	42.30	44.28	—
48	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	43.17	33.23	44.87	—
=49	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	42.84	41.92	43.51	—
=49	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	42.84	42.49	43.14	—
51	Belize`BLZ`Central America	42.76	38.81	44.81	—
52	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	42.68	38.33	45.09	—
53	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	42.66	41.68	43.70	—
54	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	42.52	39.23	44.42	—
55	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	42.41	40.53	43.87	Real value
56	Bolivia`BOL`South America	42.40	38.82	44.94	—
57	Mexico`MEX`Central America	42.30	36.95	45.36	Real value
58	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	42.23	37.98	43.31	—
59	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	42.22	37.99	45.48	Real value
60	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	42.12	39.52	44.60	—
61	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	42.11	40.15	43.37	—
62	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	42.10	36.28	46.43	—
63	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	42.07	38.00	45.69	Real value
64	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	41.87	39.65	43.35	Real value
65	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	41.67	39.19	43.91	—
66	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	41.40	37.99	44.32	—
67	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	41.31	38.41	43.80	—
=68	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	41.23	39.86	42.12	Real value
=68	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	41.23	41.81	40.85	Real value
70	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	41.15	38.57	43.57	—
71	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	41.13	36.42	43.35	—
=72	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	41.10	38.96	43.10	—
=72	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	41.10	37.14	43.56	—
74	Guyana`GUY`South America	40.93	37.45	42.65	—
75	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	40.76	40.23	41.20	—
76	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	40.75	34.99	43.78	—
77	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	40.48	39.80	41.02	—
78	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	40.46	38.18	42.21	—
79	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	40.38	35.99	43.23	—
80	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	40.32	34.44	43.96	—
81	Venezuela`VEN`South America	40.30	36.63	42.68	Real value
82	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	40.24	38.00	42.22	—
83	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	40.22	37.12	43.42	—
84	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	39.92	38.80	40.88	Real value
85	Chile`CHL`South America	39.89	35.57	42.43	—
86	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	39.81	32.33	40.96	—
87	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	39.78	39.05	40.38	—
88	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	39.75	36.73	41.96	—
89	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	39.73	37.04	42.33	—
90	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	39.68	38.53	40.91	—
91	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	39.55	36.21	41.69	Real value
=92	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	39.52	36.71	41.80	—
=92	Panama`PAN`Central America	39.52	36.89	41.03	—
94	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	39.40	37.03	40.85	Real value
95	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	39.38	36.69	41.96	—
96	Brazil`BRA`South America	39.19	35.90	41.49	—
97	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	39.12	35.86	41.39	—
98	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	39.00	35.24	42.56	—
99	Peru`PER`South America	38.98	34.83	42.33	—
100	Argentina`ARG`South America	38.94	32.06	43.51	Real value
=101	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	38.92	36.07	41.49	—
=101	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	38.92	37.33	40.20	Real value
103	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	38.90	35.15	40.77	Real value
104	Niger`NER`Western Africa	38.82	33.47	42.83	—
105	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	38.76	35.21	39.20	—
106	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	38.67	35.42	42.02	—
107	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	38.62	33.91	41.12	—
108	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	38.52	33.01	40.79	Real value
109	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	38.46	35.94	40.80	—
110	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	38.45	36.11	40.12	—
111	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	38.42	36.00	39.53	—
112	Ecuador`ECU`South America	38.37	32.42	42.19	—
113	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	38.36	36.78	39.78	Real value
114	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	38.31	35.21	40.63	Real value
115	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	38.24	36.94	39.50	—
116	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	38.09	34.88	40.70	Real value
117	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	37.95	36.07	39.41	Real value
118	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	37.84	36.34	39.62	Real value
119	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	37.82	35.51	40.01	—
120	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	37.73	34.93	40.45	—
121	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	37.70	34.32	40.45	—
122	Honduras`HND`Central America	37.53	36.01	38.28	Real value
123	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	37.44	36.08	38.74	Real value
124	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	37.41	32.62	39.81	—
125	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	37.35	35.66	39.00	Real value
126	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	37.15	35.64	38.61	—
=127	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	37.12	35.04	38.76	Real value
=127	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	37.12	28.56	41.71	—
129	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	36.97	35.15	38.75	Real value
130	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	36.94	35.32	38.43	—
131	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	36.92	33.05	40.83	—
132	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	36.75	34.76	37.73	—
133	United States`USA`Northern America	36.68	33.65	39.21	Real value
134	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	36.52	33.38	38.75	—
135	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	36.48	33.49	39.54	—
136	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	36.45	31.29	40.81	—
137	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	36.43	28.10	38.47	—
138	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	36.34	32.81	39.60	—
139	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	36.11	32.59	39.54	—
140	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	36.10	34.82	37.09	—
141	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	35.97	33.53	37.84	Real value
142	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	35.96	24.30	38.03	—
143	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	35.78	34.66	36.88	—
=144	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	35.77	19.97	38.71	—
=144	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	35.77	28.51	41.92	Real value
146	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	35.63	29.35	38.99	—
147	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	35.52	29.84	40.28	Real value
148	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	35.45	35.20	35.61	—
149	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	35.35	33.08	37.03	—
150	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	35.31	33.15	37.21	Real value
151	Uruguay`URY`South America	35.12	30.80	38.40	—
152	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	35.03	28.27	40.90	—
153	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	34.89	32.34	36.94	—
154	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	34.66	32.33	36.60	Real value
155	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	34.64	33.84	35.39	—
156	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	34.59	30.75	37.39	Real value
157	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	34.53	29.73	37.73	Real value
158	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	34.49	33.33	35.65	—
159	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	34.16	29.36	38.94	Real value
160	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	34.06	30.17	36.80	—
161	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	33.87	30.92	36.45	—
162	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	33.65	28.29	38.18	Real value
163	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	33.56	31.35	35.55	—
164	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	33.01	27.48	37.59	Real value
165	Canada`CAN`Northern America	32.92	28.96	36.42	Real value
166	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	32.87	29.65	35.51	—
167	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	32.84	27.20	37.28	Real value
168	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	32.70	28.31	36.23	Real value
169	France`FRA`Western Europe	31.72	28.13	34.90	—
170	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	31.69	29.53	33.56	—
171	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	31.62	28.63	34.40	—
172	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	31.13	28.34	33.69	Real value
173	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	31.09	26.49	34.56	Real value
174	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	30.98	27.90	31.85	—
175	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	30.82	25.69	35.26	Real value
176	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	30.70	27.20	33.52	—
177	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	30.44	26.90	33.92	—
178	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	30.35	26.08	33.58	—
179	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	30.26	27.74	31.25	—
180	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	29.87	26.60	32.80	Real value
181	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	29.74	26.28	32.76	Real value
182	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	28.99	22.93	34.07	—
=183	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	28.60	25.07	32.78	—
=183	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	28.60	24.89	31.98	Real value
185	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	27.73	21.53	32.89	Real value
186	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	26.63	24.42	28.77	—
187	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	26.30	24.09	28.10	—

02In 2008

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

1United Arab Emirates52.21
2Myanmar50.32
3Qatar50.23
4Türkiye49.72
5Maldives49.33

Lowest

187Vanuatu26.30
186Uganda26.63
185Netherlands27.73
183Norwayshared28.60
183Mozambiqueshared28.60

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 39.40. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Women (hours)
HighestUnited Arab Emirates53.31
LowestAfghanistan19.97
Middle country: 35.99
Men (hours)
HighestMaldives54.44
LowestVanuatu28.10
Middle country: 41.69

032007 → 2008

Since 2007

What changed between 2007 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
182values changed, of 187 in both
77 · 105rose · fell
5unchanged

Rose most

Armenia38.42 → 42.07+3.65
Qatar48.73 → 50.23+1.50
Vanuatu25.71 → 26.30+0.59
Syria43.74 → 44.32+0.58
Mongolia48.50 → 49.05+0.55

Fell most

Honduras40.65 → 37.53−3.12
Albania44.90 → 42.22−2.68
Latvia39.19 → 37.35−1.84
South Africa45.52 → 43.90−1.62
Luxembourg32.58 → 31.09−1.49

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from ILO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2008.
176 distinct values among 187
Values are stored exactly as published, to 2 decimals. 2 countries share 47.21. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
ILO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
129 empty cells
An empty cell means the publisher gave no figure. It is never a zero.
Some readings carry a flag
ILO marks readings it considers estimates or provisional. The flags in this file: Real value.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
187 rows · 7.9 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download weekly-hours-2008-nations-inquiry.csv
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The publisher’s original
ILO’s own file, on its own site.
https://rplumber.ilo.org/data/indicator/?id=HOW_2EMP_SEX_NB&format=.csv&channel=ilostat

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

International Labour Organization (ILO) (2008). Average Weekly Hours Worked, 2008 [data set], describing 2008. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/weekly-hours/2008

0621 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Average Weekly Hours Worked, 2007
187 countries
The year after ›
Average Weekly Hours Worked, 2009
187 countries
All of them
Average Weekly Hours Worked: every year
21 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions