Annual Working Hours in South Sudan: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

The rhythm of labor in South Sudan tells a story of incremental change written in the fatigue of daily life. Across three centuries, the metric of 2,050 hours/year represents the lived experience of workers navigating an evolving economic landscape. While numbers capture the duration of effort, they reflect the physical reality of sustenance and survival. These statistics chart a quiet movement away from the intensity of the past, illustrating the slow shift in how the people of this region distribute their energy across the span of an average year.

The historical arc begins with a sustained baseline. From the 1800s estimate through the 1950s, annual working hours remained steady at 2,200 hours/year. As the twentieth century progressed, the figures began a gradual decline: 2,183 in the 1960s, 2,167 in the 1970s, 2,150 in the 1980s, 2,125 in the 1990s, 2,100 in the 2000s, and 2,075 in the 2010s. By the 2020s, annual working hours in South Sudan stands at 2,050 hours/year — ranking #126 of 157 countries. This steady reduction traces the transformation of labor over two hundred years.

If you consider the trajectory toward the future, these projections suggest a continuing trend. Models estimate 2,025 in the 2030s, 2,000 in the 2040s, and 1,975 in the 2050s. Looking further ahead, the figures reach 1,950 in the 2060s, 1,925 in the 2070s, 1,900 in the 2080s, 1,875 in the 2090s, and finally 1,850 in the 2100s. These values suggest a future where the total duration of annual labor continues to contract compared to the 2,200 hours/year seen in 1900. Use our interactive tool to see where you rank among everyone ever born.