Nearly one in three workers in Greece (32.3%) are employed during weekends, the highest rate in the European Union, according to Eurostat data for 2023.
The figures highlight the widespread nature of seven-day workweeks in Greece, often driven by job requirements or financial necessity. Greece’s high levels of self-employment, its dependence on tourism, and the prevalence of informal or flexible labour arrangements contribute to the trend, Eurostat said.
Weekend employment is particularly common in the food service, tourism, retail and agricultural sectors — areas with shift-based or seasonal work. In many cases, irregular hours and long working days are not matched by higher pay, with average gross monthly wages in Greece at €1,342.
Greece outpaces other EU countries in weekend work, nearly 10 percentage points above the EU average of 22.4%. Italy follows at 30.9%, with Cyprus at 26.4%.
EU-wide, weekend work is most prevalent in agriculture, forestry and fishing (49.5%), followed by services and sales (48.9%), Eurostat said. Among self-employed people, nearly half (46.7%) report working on Saturdays or Sundays.
Greece ranks among the EU’s leaders in self-employment, with 27.3% of workers falling into this category in 2022, compared with an EU average of 13.2%. Many small business owners, freelancers and farmers operate without employees and rely on their own labour to sustain their businesses, often working without fixed hours.
