According to ILO survey data shared by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in 2019, Vietnam is among the countries with the highest working hours in the world and region.

Total working hours per year in Vietnam (excluding holidays) is 2,320 hours, 440 hours higher than Indonesia, 184 hours higher than Cambodia, 176 hours higher than Singapore...

According to ILO statistics, only 2 countries have working hours over 48 hours/week; 1/3 of countries apply 48 hours like Vietnam and about 2/3 of countries have 48 hours/week or less.

Vietnam is also among the countries with the highest number of working hours in the world (from 2,250 - 2,500 hours/year). Data compiled from actual working hours of 63 countries in 2014 shows that Vietnam ranked 3rd with an average annual working hours of 2,339.55 hours, higher than 60 countries. Among the 11 countries participating in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Vietnam is the country with the highest number of actual working hours.

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Illustration: Le Anh Dung

Regarding holidays, the number of holidays in Vietnam (according to the Labor Code is 11 days) is in the low average group compared to other countries in the world and the region (Cambodia is 28 days; Brunei 15 days; Indonesia 16 days; Malaysia 13 days; Myanmar 14 days; Philippines 19 days; Thailand 16 days; Laos 12 days; China 21 days; Japan 16 days).

According to the report "Working hours in Vietnam" published by the ILO Office in Vietnam in September 2019, most workers work 48 hours/week, the average working hours by economic sector are in state-owned enterprises with the lowest working hours, about 42 hours/week. Workers in the FDI sector have the highest working hours, at 51 hours/week (this working hours may include overtime).

By industry, workers in the fisheries industry have the highest number of working hours, while workers in the agricultural industry have the lowest number of working hours.

Workers in industries such as textiles, electronics and furniture manufacturing have quite high working hours, over 50 hours per week. These industries also have many FDI enterprises. Except for agriculture, all other industries have average working hours over 44 hours per week.