Korea worked 32 hours less last year but remains higher than OECD average

The average annual working hours for Koreans fell by 32 hours last year from the previous year but remain nearly 100 hours longer than the average for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as a whole, data showed Sunday.

Korea's average annual working hours came to 1,833 hours in 2025, down from 1,865 hours the previous year, according to the OECD.

Amid the Korean government's efforts to reduce real working hours, including the introduction of the 52-hour workweek system in 2018, the country's average annual working hours have been on a steady decline.

But Korea's 2025 yearly working hours still remained 97 hours longer than last year's average of 36 OECD member states at 1,736 hours, data showed. Currently, the OECD has 38 member nations.

Of the 36 OECD nations for which data was available last year, Korea ranked sixth in terms of working hours.

Mexico topped the list with 2,205 hours last year, followed by Costa Rica, Chile, Greece and Israel, the data showed.

Last year, Koreans worked 33 hours longer than workers in the United States and 235 hours longer than those in Japan. In particular, Korea's working hours were 501 hours longer than Germany's 1,332 hours, a country that reported the shortest yearly working hours among OECD member nations.

The Korean government aims to reduce real yearly working hours to the 1,700-hour levels by 2030.

Yonhap