Japan’s Working Hours at Record Low in Fiscal 2024

Major Drop for Transport and Postal Services Sector

A report issued by Japan’s Cabinet Office in January 2026 showed that average working hours per person decreased year on year by 17.7 hours in fiscal 2024 to 1,654.2, marking the second consecutive annual decline. The figure for fiscal 2024 is 257.4 hours lower than the peak reached in fiscal 1995, when the average was 1,911.6 hours.

The breakdown by major industry shows that the largest decrease was seen in the transport and postal services sector, where strengthened overtime regulations led to a reduction of 38.4 hours. A significant decrease of 31.1 hours was also seen in the construction industry. Meanwhile, working time increased by 4.3 hours in the information and communications industry, and by 2.2 hours in the finance and insurance industry.

The Labor Standards Act stipulates that legally prescribed working hours should not exceed 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. The Work Style Reform Act, introduced in 2019, limited overtime, in principle, to 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year. A five-year grace period on introducing the limit was granted to certain occupations subject to chronic labor shortages (such as truck or bus drivers, construction workers, and salaried doctors), but the regulations were tightened from April 2024. The current upper limit for annual overtime is set at 720 hours for construction workers and 960 hours for physicians (excluding special cases) and drivers.

Data Sources

• Japan’s national accounts for fiscal 2024 from the Cabinet Office.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)