Workers in Albania continue to put in significantly longer working hours than the European average. According to Eurostat, the average working week across the European Union stood at 35.9 hours in 2025. In Albania, however, data from INSTAT show that employees worked an average of 42.6 hours per week—6.7 hours more than the EU average.
Within the European Union, Greece recorded the longest average working week at 39.6 hours, followed by Bulgaria and Poland with 38.7 hours each, and Lithuania with 38.4 hours. Even so, all of these countries remain below Albania’s average.
At the other end of the ranking, the Netherlands had the shortest average working week at 31.9 hours, followed by Denmark and Germany with 33.9 hours each, and Austria with 34 hours. The gap between Albania and the Netherlands exceeds 10 working hours per week.
The data indicate that, although Albania is not an EU member state, its employees spend considerably more time at work than their counterparts across the European Union. Meanwhile, the EU average working week has gradually declined over the past decade, falling from 36.9 hours in 2015 to 35.9 hours in 2025.
The post Eurostat: Albanians Work the Longest Hours, Exceeding the EU Average appeared first on Euronews Albania.
