Figures from Eurostat suggest that workers in Belgium spend fewer hours on the job than most of their European neighbours.
According to the European statistical office, people in Belgium worked an average of 34.3 hours per week in 2025, placing the country among the six shortest working weeks in the European Union. The figure includes both full-time and part-time workers aged 20 to 64 and measures the actual number of hours worked in their main job.
Only five EU countries recorded shorter working weeks than Belgium. The Netherlands topped the ranking for the shortest average work week at 31.9 hours, followed by Denmark and Germany, both at 33.9 hours, Austria at 34 hours and Finland at 34.2 hours. Belgium came next with 34.3 hours.
By contrast, workers in southern and eastern Europe generally spend much longer hours at work. Greece recorded the longest average working week in the European Union at 39.6 hours, followed by Bulgaria and Poland at 38.7 hours and Lithuania at 38.4 hours.
The gap between Belgium and Greece amounts to more than five hours per week, or the equivalent of roughly an extra working day every fortnight.
Below the European average
The EU average stood at 35.9 hours per week in 2025. Belgium therefore remains around 1.5 hours below the European average and significantly below neighbouring France, where workers averaged 35.6 hours per week.
The figures reflect broader differences in labour markets across Europe. Countries with high levels of part-time employment generally record shorter average working weeks. The Netherlands, for example, has the highest proportion of part-time workers in Europe, helping explain why it consistently records the shortest average working week.
Belgium also has a relatively large share of part-time employment and has seen a marked decline in average working hours over the past decade. Between 2014 and 2024, the average work week in Belgium fell by around 2.5 hours, one of the largest decreases recorded in Europe.
Not necessarily working less
Eurostat cautions that the figures should not be interpreted as a direct measure of productivity or effort. The statistics combine full-time and part-time workers and are influenced by national labour laws, collective bargaining agreements and employment structures. Countries with shorter average working weeks can still maintain high levels of economic output.
The data also show that working hours across the European Union have gradually declined over the past decade. The average working week fell from 36.9 hours in 2015 to 35.9 hours in 2025, reflecting long-term changes in employment patterns, including the growth of part-time work and more flexible working arrangements.
A very different picture for the self-employed
Belgium's position changes dramatically when self-employed workers are examined separately. While Belgian employees are among those working the fewest hours in Europe, the country's entrepreneurs and freelancers are among the continent's hardest workers.
According to Eurostat, self-employed people with employees worked an average of 49.8 hours per week in 2025, the second-highest figure in the European Union behind only France (50 hours) and ahead of Greece (49.2 hours). Self-employed workers without employees also ranked near the top of the European table, averaging 43.2 hours per week, second only to Greece (46.3 hours).
The contrast with salaried workers is striking. Belgian employees worked an average of 35.2 hours per week, well below the EU average and more than eight hours less than self-employed workers without employees.
Eurostat notes that Belgium recorded the largest gap in the European Union between employees and own-account workers, highlighting the particularly heavy workload carried by many independent workers.
