Top places in APAC for life-work balance: 2025 edition

Singapore and Malaysia rank highest among Southeast Asian countries, while Hong Kong is in 44^th place.

How well does the place you live perform in achieving life-work balance?

Having assessed the top 60 GDP regions based on several workplace factors, including statutory annual leave, paid maternity leave, sick leave, healthcare, public safety, public happiness, LGBTQ+ inclusivity, and average work hours per employee, Remote has published the third Global Life-Work Balance Index for 2025.

For the third year in a row, New Zealand topped the ranking, and saw an increase of more than six points in its life-work balance score this year. The country scored consistently well across areas, such as statutory annual leave, public happiness, safety, and minimum wage.

Australia and Singapore completed the top three in life-work balance within the APAC region. Australia boasts the highest minimum wage of all the locations studied, and Australians tend to work short hours compared to most others.

Singapore, meanwhile, improved its position by one rank to third in APAC, partly due to an increase in statutory maternity leave.

A notable improvement was seen in Malaysia. The country increased its ranking by 20 places compared to 2024. Improved statutory maternity leave is one of the reasons for its improved performance. However, compared to its APAC counterparts, Malaysians tend to work longer hours (44.70 per week on average), and the country is the least LGBTQ+ inclusive in the region, according to the researchers.

Japan, on the other hand, experienced a drop in its ranking, falling from third in APAC in 2024 to fifth this year. Japanese workers have the least amount of statutory annual leave across all APAC countries/regions, with just 10 days per year, but have relatively short working hours (36.60 per week on average).

Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand are also among the top 10 in APAC. Taiwan and South Korea ranked the lowest for statutory paid maternity leave, while Thailand and Indonesia ranked third highest and second lowest, respectively, for LGBTQ+ inclusivity.

India rose six positions from 2024, sitting 11^th. While India boasts the most generous statutory annual leave policy in APAC, providing 35 days per year, its workers also work relatively higher hours in comparison, averaging 45.72 hours per week.

China ranked the lowest among the 14 APAC countries/regions surveyed for life-work balance. With a score of 38.68, China sat at 52^nd among the top 60 GDP nations. Chinese workers work the longest hours in APAC, with an average of 46.10 hours per week.

Here is the full ranking of the APAC places surveyed:

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