The latest figures from Eurostat on hours worked across the EU show that Belgian workers are above the EU average when it comes to working long hours each week, but this is in decline.
According to the statistics agency, 6.5% of EU employed workers do more than 49 hours each week. For Belgium, the figure is 8.3%.
The numbers, which cover 2024, represent a continuing decline in those working long hours. Back in 2020, 7.5% of workers in the EU aged over 15 worked long hours, in Belgium the share was even higher at 9.5%.
Workers in Greece, Cyprus, France, and Portugal are more likely to work longer hours than in Belgium. At the other end of the ranking only 0.4% of Bulgarians, and 0.9% of Latvians say they work long hours each week.
For self-employed workers, the situation is different. For those who work for themselves as 'own account workers' without any employees in Belgium, almost one in three (31.6%) in 2024 say they work long hours each week.
Despite the high number, the 31.6% moves Belgium down from the top spot it had in 2023, overtaken by Greece, where in 2024, 33% say they worked long hours.
Average hours each week across Europe
Separate data from Eurostat shows that employed workers in Belgium on average do 34.1 weekly hours of work, with Greek workers doing the most at 39.8 weekly hours on average, against an EU average of 35.5 hours.
Here again, self-employed workers do on average more hours each week. The average hours for someone in Belgium who is self-employed is 42.2 hours a week, against an EU average of 40. Across Europe, Belgium has the largest gap in average hours worked between those employed and self-employed.
