Well, economists and other researchers looked into this question from time to time. In Europe, the working hours per week are getting shorter and shorter. The purpose of this is a healthier society and increase in retail sales. People shall invest more time in family and spend their money. Does the concept work out or is it still the case that more working hours lead to a healthier economy?

So the numbers speak fact, the greater the hours worked per week, on average, the lower the productivity. The calculation work as follows: GDP per capita (total output of a country divided by the number of people there, divided by hours worked per week).

I live in the middle east and trusting the official working hours we can see it. Who works here more than 40 hours a week is dragging productivity and just fills the timesheet and not the workload to be increased. You can read in the graphic that countries excel and struggle in certain areas. For example:

• Luxembourg is far ahead leading the pack in per-capita GDP/hours worked; it’s by far the most efficient country
• Russia and Mexico account for the highest hours worked per week, and their average income per hour is among the worst you can achieve

So let’s ask ourselves, did we now learn something out of this? The key takeaway from the infographic is clear to me.

“The top 3 countries for economic value per hour worked were all in the bottom 5 for hours worked per week.”

none

If you live in one of the countries check out the productivity of your average working force. Check where you stand and find out if you are compensated correctly. Check the infographic below for details and read about the most productive countries and how they lead to a healthier economy. Let us know where you live and how you see your economy besides the statistics.