Which Country Works the Most?

Out of the people who live in the 26 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Mexicans work the longest days, with an average of about 10 hours of both unpaid and paid work. Those that work the least are Belgians, who work less than seven hours a day in about equal amounts of paid and unpaid work. The average workday for those in OECD countries is eight hours.

More facts about work:

• Mexicans also spend the most time a day on unpaid work of those in any OECD country, doing a bit more than four hours a day of unpaid work. Those in South Korea do the least unpaid work a day, spending a little more than two hours a day on unpaid work.


• Most unpaid work in OECD countries consists of cooking and cleaning, with OECD citizens spending slightly more than two hours per day. In addition to this, taking care of household members or others accounts for about 25 minutes per day, which is about the same amount of time as is spent on shopping.


• Those in Ireland spend the most time caring for household members or others, with more than an hour spent every day, and those in Belgium spend the least time caring for others — about 15 minutes a day.