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Daily working hours dip slightly in 2024 under 52-hour workweek system

Published: 28 Jul. 2025, 17:17 Updated: 28 Jul. 2025, 18:11

Statistics Korea's logo [NEWS1]

The average daily working hours of Korean wage earners fell slightly in 2024 compared to five years earlier, following the nationwide implementation of the 52-hour workweek system, a government survey showed on Monday.

According to the survey released by Statistics Korea, salaried workers aged 15 years and older worked an average of 6 hours and 8 minutes per day last year, down from 6 hours and 23 minutes recorded in 2019.

The 52-hour workweek system, which caps the regular workweek at 40 hours with up to 12 hours of overtime, was first introduced in July 2018 for companies with 300 or more employees. It was later expanded to firms with 50 to 299 employees in January 2020.

Male employees worked an average of 6 hours and 36 minutes per day in 2024, 1 hour and 4 minutes longer than their female counterparts, the data showed.

Compared to five years ago, men's average daily working time dropped by 20 minutes, while that of female workers declined by 6 minutes.

Workers who logged more than 36 hours per week spent 2 hours and 29 minutes more on work-related activities per day than those working fewer than 36 hours. However, they had 1 hour and 8 minutes less leisure time, the agency noted.

The proportion of people working after 5 p.m. on weekdays also fell for both men and women compared to five years earlier.

Meanwhile, Koreans slept an average of 8 hours and 4 minutes per day in 2024, down from 8 hours and 12 minutes in 2019.

This marks the first decline in average sleep time since the agency began tracking such data in 1999.

The percentage of people nationwide who reported difficulty falling asleep stood at 11.9 percent in 2024.

The figure was highest among those aged 60 and above at 19.6 percent, with increases observed across all age groups over the past five years.

The 2024 survey was conducted on approximately 25,000 individuals aged 10 and older residing in 12,750 sample households nationwide. The survey, carried out every five years, was first introduced in 1999, with this year marking its sixth edition.

Yonhap