Homework Hours by Country: 65 Countries Ranked (PISA Data)

Key findings

The OECD average is 4.88 hours of homework a week for 15-year-olds (PISA 2012, student self-reports) — just under an hour per school day.
The United States reports 6.09 hours a week, 15th of 65 countries and economies, 1.21 hours above the OECD average and 7th among the 34 OECD members.
The range is roughly fivefold: Shanghai-China reports 13.85 hours, Finland 2.78 and Korea 2.87. Seven systems report 7 hours or more.
Homework time mostly fell between 2003 and 2012. Of the 38 countries with data for both years, 33 show a lower figure in 2012; the US (+0.41 h) is one of only 5 that rose. OECD’s own summary counts 31 of 38 as declines.
2012 is the latest country-by-country figure we could find. PISA 2022 did not publish a comparable hours table in the OECD sources we checked.
Data: free CSV download, CC BY 4.0.

How much homework is normal? Within the US the usual answer is the 10-minute rule. A broader benchmark comes from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which asks 15-year-olds in dozens of countries how many hours a week they spend on homework. This page puts the full country table in one place, with the 2003 comparison, a chart and a downloadable file.

Methodology

Every number on this page comes from two OECD source tables. We did not survey anyone ourselves.

2012 hours: OECD (2013), PISA 2012 Results, Volume IV, Table IV.3.27, “Hours of after-school study time per week.” The measure is the average weekly time students report spending on “homework or other study set by teachers,” all subjects combined.
2003 hours and change: same volume, Table IV.3.48, which compares 2003 and 2012 for countries with comparable data.
Summary figures (the OECD average and the advantaged/disadvantaged gap) are cross-checked against OECD’s PISA in Focus No. 46 (December 2014).

The data covers 65 countries and economies: 34 OECD members and 31 partners. “Economies” matters: Shanghai-China, Hong Kong-China, Macao-China and Chinese Taipei are separate PISA participants, so Shanghai’s figure describes one city, not China. “n/a” in the 2003 column means the system was not in PISA 2003 or its data was not comparable (the United Kingdom and Indonesia fall into this group). The change column is 2012 minus 2003, so a negative number means less homework in 2012.

Ranks follow the order of the OECD table. Three pairs share the same value to two decimals (Belgium and Peru, Colombia and Chinese Taipei, Cyprus and Portugal).

Homework hours per week, all 65 countries

Select a column heading to sort the table. Select it again to reverse the order. Hours are per week, as reported by 15-year-old students.

Hours of homework per week reported by 15-year-olds, PISA 2012 and 2003 (OECD). Column headings are buttons that sort the table.

1	Shanghai-China	Partner	13.85	n/a	n/a
2	Russian Federation	Partner	9.75	12.71	−2.96
3	Singapore	Partner	9.39	n/a	n/a
4	Kazakhstan	Partner	8.82	n/a	n/a
5	Italy	OECD	8.73	10.54	−1.81
6	Ireland	OECD	7.31	7.73	−0.41
7	Romania	Partner	7.28	n/a	n/a
8	Estonia	OECD	6.93	n/a	n/a
9	Lithuania	Partner	6.69	n/a	n/a
10	Poland	OECD	6.60	8.07	−1.47
11	Spain	OECD	6.50	7.37	−0.87
12	Hungary	OECD	6.22	9.95	−3.73
13	Latvia	Partner	6.21	9.41	−3.20
14	United Arab Emirates	Partner	6.17	n/a	n/a
15	United States	OECD	6.09	5.68	+0.41
16	Australia	OECD	6.04	5.70	+0.35
17	Hong Kong-China	Partner	6.02	6.75	−0.73
18	Croatia	Partner	5.92	n/a	n/a
19	Macao-China	Partner	5.87	7.80	−1.93
20	Viet Nam	Partner	5.85	n/a	n/a
21	Netherlands	OECD	5.84	5.70	+0.15
22	Bulgaria	Partner	5.64	n/a	n/a
23	Thailand	Partner	5.59	6.91	−1.32
24	Canada	OECD	5.48	5.64	−0.16
25	Belgium	OECD	5.46	6.16	−0.70
26	Peru	Partner	5.46	n/a	n/a
27	Colombia	Partner	5.35	n/a	n/a
28	Chinese Taipei	Partner	5.35	n/a	n/a
29	Greece	OECD	5.26	8.30	−3.04
30	Mexico	OECD	5.24	5.85	−0.61
31	Albania	Partner	5.07	n/a	n/a
32	France	OECD	5.06	6.80	−1.74
33	Indonesia	Partner	4.90	n/a	n/a
—	OECD average	—	4.88	—	—
34	United Kingdom	OECD	4.86	n/a	n/a
35	Malaysia	Partner	4.79	n/a	n/a
36	Norway	OECD	4.74	4.80	−0.06
37	Uruguay	Partner	4.70	6.80	−2.09
38	Germany	OECD	4.67	6.26	−1.59
39	Israel	OECD	4.61	n/a	n/a
40	Luxembourg	OECD	4.58	6.07	−1.49
41	Austria	OECD	4.52	3.97	+0.55
42	Serbia	Partner	4.42	n/a	n/a
43	Montenegro	Partner	4.33	n/a	n/a
44	Qatar	Partner	4.32	n/a	n/a
45	Denmark	OECD	4.29	5.38	−1.09
46	Turkey	OECD	4.24	5.87	−1.63
47	Jordan	Partner	4.22	n/a	n/a
48	New Zealand	OECD	4.20	4.52	−0.32
49	Iceland	OECD	4.08	4.63	−0.55
50	Switzerland	OECD	3.98	4.55	−0.57
51	Japan	OECD	3.84	3.82	+0.01
52	Cyprus	Partner	3.82	n/a	n/a
53	Portugal	OECD	3.82	4.89	−1.07
54	Slovenia	OECD	3.72	n/a	n/a
55	Argentina	Partner	3.71	n/a	n/a
56	Sweden	OECD	3.57	3.91	−0.34
57	Tunisia	Partner	3.55	4.93	−1.38
58	Costa Rica	Partner	3.52	n/a	n/a
59	Chile	OECD	3.48	n/a	n/a
60	Brazil	Partner	3.32	4.86	−1.54
61	Liechtenstein	Partner	3.30	4.42	−1.12
62	Slovak Republic	OECD	3.23	8.43	−5.20
63	Czech Republic	OECD	3.14	3.80	−0.66
64	Korea	OECD	2.87	3.49	−0.62
65	Finland	OECD	2.78	3.69	−0.90

Download the table as CSV (65 rows plus the OECD average, UTF-8; columns: rank, country, group, hours_2012, hours_2003, change_2003_2012).

Top 15 and bottom 15

The chart shows the 15 systems with the most homework and the 15 with the least, with the OECD average between them. The United States is highlighted in red.

Most homework: top 15 (hours per week, PISA 2012)

Shanghai-China13.85

Russian Federation9.75

Singapore9.39

Kazakhstan8.82

Italy8.73

Ireland7.31

Romania7.28

Estonia6.93

Lithuania6.69

Poland6.60

Spain6.50

Hungary6.22

Latvia6.21

United Arab Emirates6.17

United States6.09

OECD average4.88

Least homework: bottom 15 (hours per week, PISA 2012)

Japan3.84

Cyprus3.82

Portugal3.82

Slovenia3.72

Argentina3.71

Sweden3.57

Tunisia3.55

Costa Rica3.52

Chile3.48

Brazil3.32

Liechtenstein3.30

Slovak Republic3.23

Czech Republic3.14

Korea2.87

Finland2.78

Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Results Volume IV, Table IV.3.27. Bars scaled to 14 hours. United States in red, OECD average in yellow.

What the data shows

1. The US is above average, but far from the top. At 6.09 hours a week, American 15-year-olds ranked 15th of 65 and 7th of the 34 OECD members. That is 1.21 hours, or about 25%, more than the OECD average of 4.88. Neighbors in the ranking are the United Arab Emirates (6.17) and Australia (6.04). Canada reported 5.48 hours and the United Kingdom 4.86.

2. The spread is roughly fivefold. Shanghai-China’s 13.85 hours is 4.98 times Finland’s 2.78. Seven systems report 7 hours or more: Shanghai, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Italy, Ireland and Romania. Only two report under 3 hours: Finland and Korea.

3. The middle is close to the average. The median of all 65 values is 4.90 hours (Indonesia), almost exactly the OECD average. 33 systems are above 4.88 and 32 below; 16 report under 4 hours a week.

4. Homework time fell in most countries between 2003 and 2012. Of the 38 systems with figures for both years, 33 show a lower number in 2012 and 5 a higher one: Austria (+0.55), the United States (+0.41), Australia (+0.35), the Netherlands (+0.15) and Japan (+0.01). The average change across the 38 was −1.20 hours. OECD’s PISA in Focus 46 counts homework time as falling in 31 of the 38 and calls the increases significant only for Australia and Austria. Some of the changes are small, and OECD’s source tables flag statistical significance; we report the raw values.

5. The biggest drops were in Central and Eastern Europe. The Slovak Republic fell by 5.20 hours a week (8.43 to 3.23), Hungary by 3.73, Latvia by 3.20, Greece by 3.04 and the Russian Federation by 2.96. For the OECD countries comparable in both years, the average fell from 5.92 to 4.91 hours.

6. Family background matters inside every country. Across the OECD, socio-economically advantaged students reported 5.7 hours a week and disadvantaged students 4.1. PISA in Focus 46 puts the gap at 3.5 hours or more in Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, Shanghai-China and Chinese Taipei, about 3 hours in the US and about 2 in Ireland.

What 6 hours a week looks like per night

Weekly totals are easier to picture as nightly time. These conversions are our arithmetic, not OECD figures, and they assume homework is spread evenly over 5 school nights. Real weeks are lumpier.

Country	Hours/week (2012)	Minutes per school night (÷ 5)	Minutes per day (÷ 7)
Shanghai-China	13.85	166	119
Italy	8.73	105	75
United States	6.09	73	52
OECD average	4.88	59	42
United Kingdom	4.86	58	42
Japan	3.84	46	33
Finland	2.78	33	24

Worked example. A US 15-year-old is usually in 9th or 10th grade. The 10-minute rule gives 90–100 minutes a night, or 7.5–8.3 hours over five nights (90 × 5 = 450 minutes; 100 × 5 = 500 minutes). The PISA figure for the US, 6.09 hours, is about 73 minutes a night — below that guideline. Shanghai’s 13.85 hours works out to about 2 hours 46 minutes per school night. You can compare your own child’s evenings with the guideline in our homework time calculator.

Caveats

Read these numbers as a 2012 snapshot of what students said, not as a measure of what teachers assign.

2012 is the latest country-level hours data we found. We looked for a PISA 2018 or 2022 table of average weekly homework hours by country and did not find one in the OECD sources we retrieved. For PISA 2022, OECD reports that systems where more students did up to two hours of homework a day tended to score higher in math, while three or more hours a day was associated with lower scores. That is a different measure and can’t be added to this table.
Self-reported. The figures are 15-year-olds’ own estimates of a typical week. Students may round, forget or include time differently.
“Homework or other study set by teachers.” The measure includes study set by teachers, not just written assignments.
Age, not grade. PISA samples by age, so students are in different grades across countries.
Comparisons over time are limited to 38 systems. The other 27 systems have no comparable 2003 figure.
Hours are not quality. A high or low figure says nothing on its own about whether the homework was useful.

Use the data

Check a child’s nightly load against the 10-minute rule with the homework time calculator.
Plan a week of assignments and see the total hours in the homework planner.
See what US school districts actually put in writing about homework in our study of 32 district homework policies.

License and how to cite this page

The table and CSV are free to reuse under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0): share and adapt them for any purpose, including commercially, as long as you credit The Homework Site and link to this page. The underlying figures are OECD’s; please cite the OECD tables as well.

Cite this page: The Homework Site. (2026, October 14). How Much Homework Do Students Get Around the World? Hours by Country (PISA). https://thehomeworksite.com/research/homework-by-country/ (data: OECD, PISA 2012 Results, Volume IV, Tables IV.3.27 and IV.3.48).

Sources

OECD (2013), PISA 2012 Results: What Makes Schools Successful? Resources, Policies and Practices (Volume IV), Annex B1, Table IV.3.27, “Hours of after-school study time per week” (updated December 24, 2013). StatLink: https://doi.org/10.1787/888932957460
OECD (2013), same volume, Table IV.3.48, “Change between 2003 and 2012 in hours of after-school study time per week” (updated November 29, 2013). StatLink: https://doi.org/10.1787/888932957479
OECD (2014), “Does homework perpetuate inequities in education?”, PISA in Focus No. 46. https://doi.org/10.1787/5jxrhqhtx2xt-en
OECD, “Learning time and disciplinary climate” (PISA 2022 findings on homework time). oecd.org

Checked October 14, 2026. If you spot an error in the table, tell us and we will correct it.

Frequently asked questions

Which country gives the most homework?

In the OECD’s PISA 2012 data, Shanghai-China: its 15-year-olds reported 13.85 hours of homework a week, about 2.8 hours per school day. Next came the Russian Federation (9.75), Singapore (9.39), Kazakhstan (8.82) and Italy (8.73). Shanghai is a single city economy, not all of China.

Which country gives the least homework?

Finland, at 2.78 hours a week, followed by Korea at 2.87 — the only two systems under three hours in PISA 2012. The Czech Republic (3.14), the Slovak Republic (3.23) and Liechtenstein (3.30) complete the bottom five.

How much homework do American high school students get?

US 15-year-olds reported 6.09 hours a week in PISA 2012, up from 5.68 in 2003. That ranks 15th of 65 and is 1.21 hours above the OECD average of 4.88. Spread over five school days it is about 73 minutes a night (our arithmetic).

Does more homework mean better PISA scores?

The 2012 hours table can’t answer that by itself. For PISA 2022, OECD reports that systems where more students did up to two hours of homework a day scored higher in math, while three or more hours a day was linked to lower scores.

Is there newer data than PISA 2012?

Not as a comparable country-by-country hours table, as far as we could find. The OECD’s PISA 2022 materials we checked discuss homework in bands of time per day rather than publishing average weekly hours by country, so 2012 remains the latest ranking of this kind.