Low productivity, but Albanians third in Europe for long working hours

2026-05-28 07:22:00, Sociale CNA

Although in all international reports, Albania is ranked among the countries with the lowest productivity in Europe, especially for large enterprises, Albanian employees result in having much longer working hours compared to European Union countries and at levels similar to the Balkans and Turkey.

According to INSTAT data, available until 2024, an Albanian employee worked 41.3 hours per week, up from 41.6 hours the previous year. (For salaried employees, total working hours are higher, reaching 43.6).

Other Eurostat data, dating back to 2025, show that Turkey leads Europe with 42.8 hours per week. Montenegro is second with 42.3 hours, but the most recent data is from 2020.

Bosnia and Herzegovina follows with 40.9 hours, followed in the region by Serbia with 40.6. The lowest hours in the region are worked by employees in North Macedonia (39.5). There is no data for Kosovo.

The entire region works longer hours than European Union countries. According to Eurostat, in 2025, the current weekly working hours for full-time and part-time employees in the European Union (EU), aged 20-64, in their main job, were on average 35.9 hours.

Current average weekly working hours vary across EU countries. The longest average weeks were recorded in Greece (39.6 hours), followed by Poland and Bulgaria (38.7 hours each), Lithuania (38.4 hours) and Slovenia (38.3 hours).

In contrast, the shortest weeks were in the Netherlands (31.9 hours), Germany and Denmark (33.9 hours each) and Austria (34.0 hours).

Albania has low productivity, especially for large enterprises

According to other data, an OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) study found that the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Albania is 29% of the EU average according to data dating back to 2023.

According to OECD comparisons, an employee in an Albanian SME produces an average of 14,924 euros per year, while in large enterprises this figure increases to 19,645 euros.

In the EU, an employee from SMEs is worth 52,000 euros per person and 87 thousand euros for large businesses. As a result, the productivity of large enterprises in Albania is lower than that of small and medium-sized ones, with an output of 22.6% of the average of large enterprises in the EU.

Large enterprises in Albania are not only ranked one-fifth of the EU average, but also have the lowest productivity in the region. Serbia holds the lead, with 31.4 thousand euros/person, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina with 27 thousand euros and North Macedonia, with 21.6 thousand euros./ Monitor