Demographics
Charted: The Working Hours of Americans at Different Income Levels
Article/Editing:
The Actual Working Hours of Different Income Levels
Do you really need to work 100-hour weeks for success?
In 2021, America’s top 10% of income earners made at least $129,181 a year—more than double the average individual income across the country.
When looking at differences between income groups, there are many preconceived notions about the work involved. But what are the actual average working hours for different income groups?
This graphic by Ruben Berge Mathisen uses the latest U.S. Census data to show the average working hours of Americans at different income levels.
Comparing Average Work Weeks
The data used for this graphic comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s May 2022 Current Population Survey, which surveys more than 8,000 Americans from various socioeconomic backgrounds.
Importantly, the data reflects the average work hours that respondents in each income percentile “actually” work each week, and not what’s on their contract. This also includes overtime, other jobs, or side gigs.
According to the survey data, America’s top 10% income percentile works 4.4 hours more each week than those in the bottom 10%. And in surveys across other countries, though with hundreds of respondents instead of thousands, the discrepancy was similar:
Do the rich really work longer hours than the poor?
The graph below plots data from 27 countries.
On average, the Top 10% actually works ~1 hour less per week than the Bottom 10%, among full-time workers. Working hours are usually pretty similar though.#dataviz pic.twitter.com/Ue23VweJ9C
— Ruben Mathisen (@rubenbmathisen) August 7, 2022
While both income and wealth gaps are generally widening globally, it’s interesting to see that higher earners aren’t necessarily working more hours to achieve their increasingly larger salaries.
In fact, the top 10% in the 27 countries shown in the graphic are actually working around 1 hour less each week than the bottom 10%, at least among full-time workers.
Zooming Out: Average Working Hours per Country
Similarities arise when comparing average working hours across different countries. For starters, people living in poorer countries typically work longer hours.
According to Our World in Data, the average worker in Cambodia works about 9.4 hours a day, while in Switzerland, people work an average of 6 hours a day.
While many factors contribute to this discrepancy in working hours, one large factor cited is tech innovation, or things like physical machines, processes, and systems that make work more efficient and productive. This allows wealthier countries (and industries) to increase their output without putting in as many hours.
For example, from 1948 to 2011, farm production per hour in the U.S. became 16x more productive, thanks to innovations like improved machinery, better fertilizers, and more efficient land management systems.
This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
Energy
Charted: The World’s Biggest Oil Producers
Just three countries—the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia—make up the lion’s share of global oil supply. Here are the biggest oil producers in 2022.
Charted: The World’s Biggest Oil Producers in 2022
In 2022 oil prices peaked at more than $100 per barrel, hitting an eight-year high, after a full year of turmoil in the energy markets in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Oil companies doubled their profits and the economies of the biggest oil producers in the world got a major boost.
But which countries are responsible for most of the world’s oil supply? Using data from the Statistical Review of World Energy by the Energy Institute, we’ve visualized and ranked the world’s biggest oil producers.
Ranked: Oil Production By Country, in 2022
The U.S. has been the world’s biggest oil producer since 2018 and continued its dominance in 2022 by producing close to 18 million barrels per day (B/D). This accounted for nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.
Almost three-fourths of the country’s oil production is centered around five states: Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Alaska, and Colorado.
We rank the other major oil producers in the world below.
| Rank | Country | 2022 Production (Thousand B/D) | YoY Change | Share of World Supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 17,770 | +6.5% | 18.9% |
| 2 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 12,136 | +10.8% | 12.9% |
| 3 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 11,202 | +1.8% | 11.9% |
| 4 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 5,576 | +3.0% | 5.9% |
| 5 | 🇮🇶 Iraq | 4,520 | +10.2% | 4.8% |
| 6 | 🇨🇳 China | 4,111 | +2.9% | 4.4% |
| 7 | 🇦🇪 UAE | 4,020 | +10.4% | 4.3% |
| 8 | 🇮🇷 Iran | 3,822 | +4.6% | 4.1% |
| 9 | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 3,107 | +3.9% | 3.3% |
| 10 | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | 3,028 | +12.0% | 3.2% |
| 11 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 1,944 | +0.9% | 2.1% |
| 12 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 1,901 | -6.3% | 2.0% |
| 13 | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | 1,769 | -2.0% | 1.9% |
| 14 | 🇶🇦 Qatar | 1,768 | +1.8% | 1.9% |
| 15 | 🇩🇿 Algeria | 1,474 | +8.9% | 1.6% |
| 16 | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | 1,450 | -11.2% | 1.5% |
| 17 | 🇦🇴 Angola | 1,190 | +1.1% | 1.3% |
| 18 | 🇱🇾 Libya | 1,088 | -14.3% | 1.2% |
| 19 | 🇴🇲 Oman | 1,064 | +9.6% | 1.1% |
| 20 | 🇬🇧 UK | 778 | -11.0% | 0.8% |
| 21 | 🇨🇴 Colombia | 754 | +2.4% | 0.8% |
| 22 | 🇮🇳 India | 737 | -3.8% | 0.8% |
| 23 | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | 731 | +8.1% | 0.8% |
| 24 | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 706 | +12.4% | 0.8% |
| 25 | 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | 685 | -5.6% | 0.7% |
| 26 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 644 | -6.9% | 0.7% |
| 27 | 🇪🇬 Egypt | 613 | +0.8% | 0.7% |
| 28 | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | 567 | -1.7% | 0.6% |
| 29 | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | 481 | +1.7% | 0.5% |
| 30 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 420 | -5.2% | 0.4% |
| 31 | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 331 | -17.5% | 0.4% |
| 32 | 🇨🇩 Congo | 269 | -1.7% | 0.3% |
| 33 | 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan | 244 | +1.0% | 0.3% |
| 34 | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | 194 | -1.2% | 0.2% |
| 35 | 🇬🇦 Gabon | 191 | +5.4% | 0.2% |
| 36 | 🇸🇸 South Sudan | 141 | -7.6% | 0.2% |
| 37 | 🇵🇪 Peru | 128 | +0.5% | 0.1% |
| 38 | 🇹🇩 Chad | 124 | +6.2% | 0.1% |
| 39 | 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea | 119 | -9.2% | 0.1% |
| 40 | 🇸🇾 Syria | 93 | -2.7% | 0.1% |
| 41 | 🇮🇹 Italy | 92 | -7.9% | 0.1% |
| 42 | 🇧🇳 Brunei | 92 | -13.8% | 0.1% |
| 43 | 🇾🇪 Yemen | 81 | -2.4% | 0.1% |
| 44 | 🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago | 74 | -3.6% | 0.1% |
| 45 | 🇷🇴 Romania | 65 | -6.2% | 0.1% |
| 46 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 65 | -1.6% | 0.1% |
| 47 | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 63 | -0.9% | 0.1% |
| 48 | 🇸🇩 Sudan | 62 | -3.3% | 0.1% |
| 49 | 🇹🇳 Tunisia | 40 | -12.9% | 0.0% |
| 50 | Other CIS | 43 | +4.4% | 0.0% |
| 51 | Other Middle East | 210 | +1.2% | 0.2% |
| 52 | Other Africa | 283 | -3.4% | 0.3% |
| 53 | Other Europe | 230 | -20.5% | 0.2% |
| 54 | Other Asia Pacific | 177 | -10.6% | 0.2% |
| 55 | Other S. & Cent. America | 381 | +68.5% | 0.4% |
| Total World | 93,848 | +4.2% | 100.0% |
Behind America’s considerable lead in oil production, Saudi Arabia (ranked 2nd) produced 12 million B/D, accounting for about 13% of global supply.
Russia came in third with 11 million B/D in 2022. Together, these top three oil producing behemoths, along with Canada (4th) and Iraq (5th), make up more than half of the entire world’s oil supply.
Meanwhile, the top 10 oil producers, including those ranked 6th to 10th—China, UAE, Iran, Brazil, and Kuwait—are responsible for more than 70% of the world’s oil production.
Notably, all top 10 oil giants increased their production between 2021–2022, and as a result, global output rose 4.2% year-on-year.
Major Oil Producing Regions in 2022
The Middle East accounts for one-third of global oil production and North America makes up almost another one-third of production. The Commonwealth of Independent States—an organization of post-Soviet Union countries—is another major regional producer of oil, with a 15% share of world production.
| Region | 2022 Production (Thousand B/D) | YoY Change | Share of World Supply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle East | 30,743 | +9.2% | 32.8% |
| North America | 25,290 | +5.3% | 27.0% |
| CIS | 14,006 | +0.9% | 14.9% |
| Africa | 7,043 | -3.5% | 7.5% |
| Asia Pacific | 7,273 | -1.4% | 7.8% |
| South & Central America | 6,361 | 7.2% | 6.8% |
| Europe | 3,131 | -8.6% | 3.3% |
What’s starkly apparent in the data however is Europe’s declining share of oil production, now at 3% of the world’s supply. In the last 20 years the EU’s oil output has dropped by more than 50% due to a variety of factors, including stricter environmental regulations and a shift to natural gas.
Another lens to look at regional production is through OPEC members, which control about 35% of the world’s oil output and about 70% of the world’s oil reserves.
When taking into account the group of 10 oil exporting countries OPEC has relationships with, known as OPEC+, the share of oil production increases to more than half of the world’s supply.
Oil’s Big Balancing Act
Since it’s the very lifeblood of the modern economy, the countries that control significant amounts of oil production also reap immense political and economic benefits. Entire regions have been catapulted into prosperity and wars have been fought over the control of the resource.
At the same time, the ongoing effort to pivot to renewable energy is pushing many major oil exporters to diversify their economies. A notable example is Saudi Arabia, whose sovereign wealth fund has invested in companies like Uber and WeWork.
However, the world still needs oil, as it supplies nearly one-third of global energy demand.
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