Delhi most hardworking city, Haryana most leisurely: Stats ministry data

Delhi works more than the rest

Delhiites spent nearly two hours more per day on employment and related activities, which includes travel to and fro from work, than the rest of the country in 2024, according to an analysis of data from the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation.

While a person from Delhi spent 571 minutes or nearly 9.5 hours every day on work and related activities, the national average was 455 minutes or just over 7.5 hours.

Haryana spent 493 minutes, while Tamil Nadu spent 484 minutes. In contrast, Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan spent around seven hours at work and related activities.

Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Goa are counted as some of the richest states in terms of per capita income, as per the Time Use Survey report.

Rajasthan, on the other hand, spent more time socialising than any other state in the country. Among the larger states, Rajasthan spent 148 minutes or nearly two and a half hours on socialising, community participation and religious practice per day compared with the national average of 129 minutes or just over two hours.

Tamil Nadu was among the least social state with just 106 minutes on average spent per socialising, community participation and religious practice per day.

However, it is not all work for Haryana. The state spent the most time on leisure, sports activity and cultural events at 199 minutes, higher than any other large state.

In contrast, the national average was 176 minutes for leisure , whereas Gujarat is not one to waste time on leisure. The state spent 13 minutes less than the national average (163 minutes).

Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh focused on learning, at over 475 minutes spent on the activity, compared with the national average of 420 minutes.

Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan spent the least time learning at less than 390 minutes.

Tamil Nadu also spent the least amount of time on unpaid household work.

Gender disparity at play

Men were more involved in leisure, mass media, sports and culture across most states, barring six states where women spent more time than men on the activity. In the case of Delhi, women spent 15 percent more time than men, Jharkhand men got 21 percent more leisure time than women, as women were 71 percent more involved in unpaid domestic services.

The disparity in work was the highest for Uttar Pradesh, as women spent 72 percent less time on work than men followed by Bihar with 71.6 percent.

Delhi and Kerala were more equal with 22 percent difference between working hours of men and women. Goa had just an 8 percent difference in working hours between the genders.

An earlier analysis by Moneycontrol had found that time spent on mass media, which includes social media activities, has increased over the five years. Much like other countries Indians are becoming more isolationist or anti-social.