In a previous Statistics and Data analysis I looked at the top 15 countries in the world where people work the most from 1870 to 2017. In this new article we try to analyse a new element by trying to answer a question. Which are the top nations in the world where women work the most in terms of hours? To answer this question we need to use data from the OECD. Top 15 Countries where Woman Work the Most Hours – 1996/2020.
Top 15 Countries where Woman Work the Most Hours
In 2020, which is the country in the world where women work the most in a year? Before answering this question there is a specification to be made. The data refers to OECD countries (list here). To create the annual figure, I multiplied the figure of weekly working hours by 52.2 (number of weeks in a year). The data refer to all female workers, from employees to the self-employed.
The first country in the world for the number of hours worked by women is Turkey. In Turkey, women work an average of 2108 hours per year. In second place is North Macedonia with 2103 hours, followed by Colombia with 2097.58 hours. Among the top fifteen countries in the world there are also several European countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Hungary and others. Also in the top 15 are South Africa and Chile with 2024. In the top 15 there are all countries with a value above 2000 hours.
And if we go back 20 years, to 2001, what were the top countries in the world for hours worked? In first place was Korea. Korea, in 2001, had a figure of over 2500 hours worked in a year. This is significantly higher than Turkey’s 2020 figure. It is also interesting to note that Korea’s figure for annual working hours for women has fallen by over 25% in so few years (from 2001 to 2020). Among the top countries in 2001 were Chile, which had a figure of 2284 hours worked per year, Slovakia with 2151, followed by Colombia, Latvia, Slovenia, Greece and Bulgaria. Overall, eight countries had more than 2,100 hours in 2001.
Countries by number of hours worked by women
To better understand the OECD data, I have created this chart that shows all the nations in the database and their timelines. In the case of Korea, for example, the data is available only from 1991 onwards. In this graph it is interesting to note the two extremes: Holland and Korea. Korea until 2002 the average number of hours worked by women was over 2500 hours in a single year. Above all in the last few years the figure has been gradually decreasing until it reaches an average of 1941 hours in 2020. In less than 30 years the drop has been 721 hours total. The Netherlands, on the other hand, the nation with the lowest figure among those examined, has had a stable figure since 1987. In 2020 the average hours worked by the female gender is 1330.55. A figure slightly lower than the 1987 data where the average was 1372 hours.
Worldwide evolution in the last 150 years Men + Women data
But so do we work more or less than we did 150 years ago? How has the situation changed? There is certainly a positive fact to underline: the hours worked, also thanks to the protests of the workers and to the union struggles (as well as the improvement of production) have reduced. If in 1870 in European countries people worked almost always more than 3000 hours, the data are very different. To give an example, if in Italy in 1870 people worked an average of about 3000 hours per year, in 2017 this figure is 1722 hours.
Not in all nations of the world, however, are the hours worked decreasing, quite the contrary. In many countries in Asia, the phenomenon is reversed. If we take Cambodia as an example, the hours worked in 1993 were 2190 and in 2017 they are 2455. Even in China, for example, it went from an average of 1976 hours in 1970 to 2174 in 2017. In short, despite a generally positive trend throughout the world, it will be necessary to pay close attention to the evolution of the figure in some countries of the world.
Labor productivity per hour is measured as GDP per hour of work. GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-$, which means it is adjusted for price differences between countries (PPP adjustment) and for inflation to allow comparisons between countries and over time.
Source and links
To create this article and the video above the source used is: OECD & Huberman & Minns (2007); PWT 9.1 (2019);
To view the video of “Top 15 Countries where Woman Work the Most Hours – 1996/2020” https://youtu.be/Dle6jLa8GPs
Read Top 15 Countries by Productivity per Hour Worked – 1950/2017: https://statisticsanddata.org/data/top-15-countries-by-productivity-per-hour-worked-1950-2017/
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