RTFA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_time

Annual hours over eight centuries

Time	Type of worker	Annual hours
13th century	Adult male peasant, UK	1620 hours
14th century	Casual laborer, UK	1440 hours
Middle Ages	English worker	2309 hours
1400-1600	Farmer-miner, adult male, UK	1980 hours
1840	Average worker, UK	3105-3588 hours
1850	Average worker, U.S.	3150-3650 hours
1987	Average worker, U.S.	1949 hours
1988	Manufacturing workers, UK	1855 hours
2000	Average worker, Germany	1362 hours

I found this pretty interesting, South Korea is currently the “winner” with 2390 hours per year.