How much work does the average American do each year compared to workers elsewhere in the world?
The economics website FRED just added a bunch of new economic data which makes this question very easy to examine.
As you can see, the average full-time American employee works right around 1700 hours per year.
US work week
FRED
The first question you might have is: how does this compare to France, which famously has shorter work weeks, and tons of vacation time?
Good question. Turns out the French used to work way more than the Americans, but then the French really cut back, and now work way less. So the cliches about how much the French work are true.
US vs. France work week
FRED
Now what about the famously hard working Germans.
Turns out, they basically went the French route. Actually, these days, the Germans (green line) work even fewer hours per year than the French do! Like the French, they used to work more hours than the Americans, but then jumped on the vacation bandwagon.
usvsfrenchvsgermany
FRED
So the US work the most, right?
Ha!
Let's add in Singapore. It's not even close. As you can see on the topline, Singapore is crushing the US in annual hours worked.
usfrenchgermansingapore
FRED
Toss in Korea and Hong Kong, and you can see, all of the East Asian economies crush the US in hours worked per year.
koreahongkongusworkannualwork
FRED
So if you're in the US, thinking you'd like to have it more like the Europeans do, just appreciate the fact that some places work MANY more hours per year.