Average annual hours worked · Australia

## What this measures

This measures the average number of hours actually worked per person in employment in Australia over a year, including both employees and self-employed workers. The figure comes from national labour force surveys and accounts compiled by the OECD.

## Background

Total hours actually worked in the year divided by the average number of people in employment (employees and self-employed), from national labour force surveys and accounts, compiled by the OECD (dataflow DSD_HW@DF_AVG_ANN_HRS_WKD). Levels differ in method across countries, so compare each country's trend rather than levels between countries. Annual; synced monthly by /api/cron/worldbank-sync with a DBnomics mirror as fallback.

## Why it matters

Hours worked per person reflect how intensively the workforce is deployed and can signal shifts in labor productivity, work arrangements, or economic conditions that affect scheduling. Trends in hours worked help organizations anticipate changes in labor supply, workforce fatigue, and the balance between full-time and part-time employment in the Australian market.

## How to read it

A rise indicates longer average working hours per person; a fall indicates shorter hours. Because OECD methods differ across countries, compare trends within Australia over time rather than absolute levels between countries.

## What it does not say

This does not distinguish between full-time and part-time workers, nor does it reveal changes in total employment or population. It does not capture hours paid but not worked, or informal work outside labour force surveys.

## Source

Source is the OECD, which compiles national labour force surveys and accounts (dataflow DSD_HW@DF_AVG_ANN_HRS_WKD). Palanor pulls OECD data through the OECD SDMX API under CC BY 4.0 license, with a DBnomics mirror as fallback.