Globally, workplace routines vary significantly, with some countries offering conducive environments and shorter working hours.
- Business Insider Africa presents the African countries with the longest and shortest hours worked per week
- The list is courtesy of the Visual Capitalist and the ILO
- Wholesale and retail trade sector leads in long work hours
In other climes, workers require longer working hours, highlighting a disparity in average working conditions worldwide.
The Hours of Work (Industry) Convention (No. 1) of 1919 by the International Labour Organization (ILO), introduced a maximum standard working time of 48 hours per week and eight hours per day as an international norm.
The regional disparities in average working hours reflect the cultural, economic and labour variations across the world.
Work hours in economic sectors
According to the ILO, some sectors have significantly longer work hours, with profound implications for employee well-being, productivity, and work-life balance.
The wholesale and retail trade sector leads in long work hours, with 48.8% of workers exceeding 48 hours per week.
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In contrast, public administration (20.3%), education (19.9%), and health services (19.2%) have the lowest proportions of employees working long hours.
This disparity underscores the need for tailored policies to address the challenges posed by long work hours, ensuring healthier, more balanced working conditions across all industries.
Employee work-life balance
The structure of working hours plays a crucial role in shaping employees’ personal lives and influencing organizational outcomes.
The duration of work, the scheduling of tasks, and the provision of rest periods together impact well-being, productivity, and broader societal dynamics.
According to Philippe Marcadent, Chief of the Conditions of Work and Employment Branch of the International Labour Office, working time also has significant implications for enterprises in terms of their performance, productivity, and competitiveness.
“Decisions on working time issues can also have repercussions for the broader health of the economy, the competitiveness of industry, levels of employment and unemployment, the need for transport and other facilities, and the organization of public services” Marcadent noted.
While examining the challenges of work-life balance among African workers, iRecruiters Africa had this to say “The biggest obstacle to achieving work-life balance is the constraint of time, individual choices, and lifestyle,”
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“Individuals, organizations, or company owners must be purposeful in their decisions and priorities about how they use their time to enjoy and achieve work-life balance” the recruiting firm noted
Using ILO data, Visual Capitalist highlighted global variations in average weekly work hours per employee from 2021 to 2023, shaped by cultural, economic, and regulatory factors.
The top and bottom five African countries by average work weeks are highlighted in the table below;
| Longest Hours | Shortest Hours | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Country | Hours/Week | Country | Hours/Week |
| 1 | Uganda | 50.3 | Rwanda | 29.9 |
| 2 | Sudan | 49 | Mauritius | 35.2 |
| 3 | Zimbabwe | 48.1 | Madagascar | 36.6 |
| 4 | Zambia | 47.4 | Seychelles | 40.3 |
| 5 | Angola | 46.8 | Comoros | 40% |
From the table, Uganda tops the list with the longest work hours, averaging 50.3 hours per week. Sudan and Zimbabwe follow closely, with 49 and 48.1 hours, respectively.
In contrast, Rwanda boasts the shortest work hours, with an average of 29.9 hours per week. Mauritius and Madagascar also rank among the countries with shorter work weeks, averaging 35.2 and 36.6 hours, respectively.
Globally, the top 10 countries with the longest work weeks all exceeded 48 hours, with India leading the pack at 56 hours per week.
The Asia-Pacific region dominates this list, with four countries – India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Cambodia – ranking among the top five.
On the other end of the spectrum, European countries tend to have shorter work weeks.
The Netherlands, for example, averages around 29.8 hours per week, making it one of the countries with the shortest work hours globally.
