Ranked: Best Countries for Work-Life Balance, 2025

Despina WilsonNovember 25, 2024Special Reports

When employees feel overwhelmed, burnout can easily set in. It’s crucial to find that ideal work-life balance. Many of us always look for time to engage in social activities or simply relax with our favorite reality TV shows. Your location can significantly impact how easily you can achieve this balance.

Unfortunately, it appears that people in the United States face more challenges in this area. A global CEOWORLD magazine survey examined over 962,500 full-time workers from 196 countries and found that Americans often struggle to find work-life harmony. They are not alone in their struggles; employees in Finland, Germany, and Australia also face similar difficulties. Hopefully, we can all carve out some extra “me time” soon!

The survey evaluated various factors, including the number of hours worked, commute times, sleep schedules, workday lengths, and overall satisfaction with work-life balance. From this data, they generated a “work quality score” out of 100 for each country. The U.S. scored 92.08, ranking 15th out of the 196 countries surveyed. Let’s strive for a better balance together!

While employees in the U.S. have, on average, shorter commute times than employees in other countries in the survey, they are expected to work longer hours once they are in the office. Americans endure the longest average working days, which significantly undermines their work-life balance, according to the report.

Best Countries for Work-Life Balance, 2025

Rank	Country	Region	Sub-region	Score
1	Switzerland	Europe	West Europe	97.67
2	France	Europe	West Europe	97.03
3	Luxembourg	Europe	West Europe	96.88
4	Ireland	Europe	North Europe	96.84
5	Liechtenstein	Europe	West Europe	96.65
6	Monaco	Europe	West Europe	96.36
7	Norway	Europe	North Europe	96.15
8	Netherlands	Europe	West Europe	95.73
9	Denmark	Europe	North Europe	95.62
10	Belgium	Europe	West Europe	94.45
11	Austria	Europe	West Europe	93.57
12	Singapore	Asia	South-East Asia	92.53
13	Sweden	Europe	North Europe	92.45
14	Guyana	Americas	South America	92.37
15	United States	Americas	North America	92.08
16	Finland	Europe	North Europe	91.92
17	Germany	Europe	West Europe	91.17
18	Australia	Oceania	Oceania	91.09
19	Iceland	Europe	North Europe	91
20	Israel	Asia	West Asia	90.85
21	Italy	Europe	South Europe	90.74
22	Macao (China)	Asia	East Asia	90.43
23	United Kingdom	Europe	North Europe	90.07
24	Hong Kong (China)	Asia	East Asia	89.59
25	Saudi Arabia	Asia	West Asia	89.45
26	Qatar	Asia	West Asia	89.2
27	Taiwan	Asia	East Asia	87.89
28	Canada	Americas	North America	87.77
29	Spain	Europe	South Europe	87.72
30	New Zealand	Oceania	Oceania	87.65
31	Panama	Americas	Central America	87.23
32	Croatia	Europe	South Europe	87.18
33	Bahrain	Asia	West Asia	86.71
34	Estonia	Europe	North Europe	86.54
35	Andorra	Europe	South Europe	86.34
36	Malta	Europe	South Europe	85.54
37	Brunei Darussalam	Asia	South-East Asia	84.84
38	Slovenia	Europe	South Europe	84.82
39	Lithuania	Europe	North Europe	84.61
40	Czech Republic (Czechia)	Europe	East Europe	84.37
41	Latvia	Europe	North Europe	84.34
42	Turkey (Türkiye)	Asia	West Asia	83.94
43	Palau	Oceania	Oceania	83.61
44	Romania	Europe	East Europe	83.47
45	Portugal	Europe	South Europe	83.46
46	South Korea	Asia	East Asia	82.87
47	Greece	Europe	South Europe	82.78
48	United Arab Emirates	Asia	West Asia	82.66
49	Japan	Asia	East Asia	82.45
50	Chile	Americas	South America	82.22
51	Bulgaria	Europe	East Europe	82.14
52	Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	Caribbean	82.02
53	Argentina	Americas	South America	81.75
54	Kuwait	Asia	West Asia	81.6
55	Slovakia	Europe	East Europe	80.81
56	Poland	Europe	East Europe	80.64
57	Hungary	Europe	East Europe	80.6
58	Cyprus	Europe	West Asia	80.55
59	Antigua and Barbuda	Americas	Caribbean	80.51
60	Bahamas	Americas	Caribbean	79.99
61	San Marino	Europe	South Europe	79.89
62	Oman	Asia	West Asia	79.74
63	Seychelles	Africa	East Africa	79.53
64	Kazakhstan	Asia	Central Asia	79.27
65	Libya	Africa	North Africa	79.16
66	Uruguay	Americas	South America	79.08
67	Russia	Europe	East Europe	78.58
68	Malaysia	Asia	South-East Asia	78.56
69	Montenegro	Europe	South Europe	78.48
70	Gabon	Africa	Middle Africa	78.43
71	Mauritius	Africa	East Africa	78.28
72	Iraq	Asia	West Asia	78.2
73	Costa Rica	Americas	Central America	78.16
74	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Asia	South Asia	78.03
75	North Macedonia	Europe	South Europe	78
76	Turkmenistan	Asia	Central Asia	77.96
77	Dominican Republic	Africa	Caribbean	77.7
78	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	South Europe	77.19
79	Georgia	Asia	West Asia	77.13
80	Botswana	Africa	South Africa	76.87
81	South Africa	Africa	South Africa	76.29
82	Serbia	Europe	South Europe	75.56
83	Armenia	Asia	West Asia	75.49
84	Maldives	Asia	South Asia	75.44
85	Mexico	Americas	Central America	75.31
86	Suriname	Americas	South America	74.88
87	Egypt	Africa	North Africa	74.77
88	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	Middle Africa	74.66
89	Belarus	Europe	East Europe	74.51
90	Cuba	Americas	Caribbean	74.15
91	Jordan	Asia	West Asia	73.68
92	Saint Lucia	Americas	Caribbean	73.55
93	Djibouti	Africa	East Africa	73.48
94	Algeria	Africa	North Africa	73.21
95	Fiji	Oceania	Melanesia	73.01
96	Albania	Europe	South Europe	72.41
97	Azerbaijan	Asia	West Asia	72.17
98	Dominica	Americas	Caribbean	71.93
99	Nauru	Oceania	Oceania	71.31
100	Brazil	Americas	South America	71.08
101	Lebanon	Asia	West Asia	70.87
102	Barbados	Americas	Caribbean	70.86
103	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Americas	Caribbean	70.62
104	Tunisia	Africa	North Africa	70.51
105	Colombia	Americas	South America	70.31
106	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Americas	Caribbean	70.26
107	Eswatini [Swaziland]	Africa	South Africa	70.12
108	China	Asia	East Asia	69.87
109	Sri Lanka	Asia	South Asia	69.86
110	Ukraine	Europe	East Europe	69.69
111	Thailand	Asia	South-East Asia	68.93
112	Namibia	Africa	South Africa	68.8
113	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	Americas	South America	67.72
114	Ecuador	Americas	South America	67.6
115	Belize	Americas	Central America	67.26
116	Guatemala	Americas	Central America	67.01
117	Paraguay	Americas	South America	66.81
118	Mongolia	Asia	East Asia	66.76
119	Indonesia	Asia	South-East Asia	66.69
120	Micronesia (Federated States of)	Oceania	Oceania	66.46
121	Mauritania	Africa	West Africa	65.6
122	Palestine	Asia	West Asia	65.2
123	Morocco	Africa	North Africa	65.09
124	Peru	Americas	South America	65
125	Yemen	Asia	West Asia	64.86
126	Marshall Islands	Oceania	Micronesia	64.85
127	Uzbekistan	Asia	Central Asia	64.42
128	Tonga	Oceania	Oceania	63.91
129	Philippines	Asia	South-East Asia	63.72
130	Vietnam	Asia	South-East Asia	63.38
131	El Salvador	Americas	Central America	62.97
132	Laos	Asia	South-East Asia	62.72
133	Cabo Verde [Cape Verde]	Africa	West Africa	62.37
134	Jamaica	Americas	Caribbean	61.95
135	Moldova	Europe	East Europe	61.81
136	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Americas	South America	61.7
137	Tajikistan	Asia	Central Asia	61.69
138	Angola	Africa	Middle Africa	61.28
139	India	Asia	South Asia	61.25
140	Samoa	Oceania	Oceania	61.07
141	Ghana	Africa	West Africa	60.77
142	Bhutan	Asia	South Asia	60.6
143	Nepal	Asia	South Asia	60.36
144	Kyrgyzstan	Asia	Central Asia	60.2
145	Nicaragua	Americas	Central America	60.1
146	Timor Leste (East Timor)	Asia	South-East Asia	59.78
147	Pakistan	Asia	South Asia	59.34
148	Nigeria	Africa	West Africa	59.3
149	Honduras	Americas	Central America	59.25
150	Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)	Africa	West Africa	59.01
151	Bangladesh	Asia	South Asia	58.95
152	Comoros	Africa	East Africa	58.64
153	São Tomé and Príncipe	Africa	Middle Africa	58.23
154	Sudan	Africa	North Africa	57.91
155	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	Oceania	57.86
156	Senegal	Africa	West Africa	57.83
157	Syria	Asia	West Asia	57.5
158	Tuvalu	Oceania	Oceania	57.12
159	Kiribati	Oceania	Micronesia	56.98
160	Somalia	Africa	East Africa	56.95
161	Rwanda	Africa	East Africa	55.9
162	Kenya	Africa	East Africa	55.04
163	Benin	Africa	West Africa	54.49
164	Myanmar [Burma]	Asia	South-East Asia	53.93
165	Guinea	Africa	West Africa	53.81
166	Vanuatu	Oceania	Oceania	53.8
167	Zambia	Africa	East Africa	53.22
168	Cameroon	Africa	Middle Africa	53.03
169	Republic of the Congo	Africa	Middle Africa	52.65
170	Cambodia	Asia	South-East Asia	52.4
171	Haiti	Americas	Caribbean	52.03
172	Ethiopia	Africa	East Africa	51.79
173	Gambia	Africa	West Africa	51.22
174	Zimbabwe	Africa	East Africa	50.76
175	South Sudan	Africa	East Africa	50.37
176	Uganda	Africa	East Africa	50.25
177	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	West Africa	50.15
178	Afghanistan	Asia	South Asia	50.1
179	Togo	Africa	West Africa	50.03
180	Mali	Africa	West Africa	49.68
181	Tanzania	Africa	East Africa	49.54
182	Burkina Faso	Africa	West Africa	48.79
183	Lesotho	Africa	South Africa	48.53
184	Malawi	Africa	East Africa	48.46
185	Solomon Islands	Oceania	Oceania	48.2
186	Sierra Leone	Africa	West Africa	48.01
187	Chad	Africa	Middle Africa	47.74
188	Eritrea	Africa	East Africa	47.73
189	Mozambique	Africa	East Africa	47.23
190	North Korea	Asia	East Asia	46.65
191	Liberia	Africa	West Africa	46.26
192	Central African Republic	Africa	Middle Africa	46.06
193	DR Congo [Democratic Republic of the Congo]	Africa	Middle Africa	46.01
194	Madagascar	Africa	East Africa	45.82
195	Niger	Africa	West Africa	45.33
196	Burundi	Africa	East Africa	45.18

Have you read?
World’s Most Fashionable Countries.
Best Non-Native English Speaking Countries In The World.
Countries With The Largest Household Size.
World’s Best (And Worst) Countries For Older People To Live In.

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CEOWORLD magazine - Latest - Special Reports - Ranked: Best Countries for Work-Life Balance, 2025

Despina Wilson

I am a senior editor and data journalist at CEOWORLD magazine. My job involves using infographics to report on news topics related to business and policy, with a global perspective. I hold a master's degree in journalism and have worked for newspapers and reporting projects in both the US and the UK, giving me a unique transatlantic perspective. I believe that data can enhance coverage of all news topics. As a contributor, I plan cover a wide range of issues, such as gender equality, climate change, labor, and immigration, using relevant statistics and insightful visualizations.

Email: despina@ceoworld.biz

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