BRICS work more hours than the rest of the world (with Brazil in the top 5); see ranking

Over the last 150 years, working hours have decreased substantially compared to the 19th century, particularly among today’s richest countries. On the other hand, the BRICS member countries, or emerging ones, are the ones that work the most nowadays.

In 1870, people worked, on average, more than 3,000 hours annually—the equivalent of 60 or 70 hours a week (about 14 hours a day) for 50 weeks a year.

Today, these . Data compiled by Our World in Data shows that, in Germany, annual working hours decreased by almost 60% from the end of the 19th century to the 2010s, for example. In the United Kingdom, the reduction was around 40%.

Before the revolution in working hours, people worked as many hours between January and July as much of the world today works in an entire year.

But when the comparison is made with developing countries, the numbers are shocking: In 2023, when the latest data was collected, an Indian spent approximately 1000 hours more at work than a German.

Brazilians, for example, worked 1,993.72 hours in 2023approximately 33% more time than the Germans in the period. At the beginning of the historical series analyzed for Brazil, in 1950, the population worked 2,364 hours a year — equivalent to around 9 hours a day from Monday to Friday.

In addition to the group formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, South Korea has also competed in the longest journeys on the planet in recent years. While these countries currently work more than 7 hours per working day, developed nations work below the 6.9 hour period per day.

Who works the most in the 15 largest economies in the world?