DS Microdata > HETUS EN REVAMP

Information on data details relevant for research project proposals

  • Age: by 5-year bands
  • Country of birth and country of main citizenship: suppressed
  • Level of education currently receiving: suppressed

Description of the data collection

Scope of the survey

The harmonised European time use surveys (HETUS) are national surveys conducted in EU countries to quantify how much time people spend on various activities, including paid work, household chores and family care, personal care, voluntary work, social life, travel, and leisure.

Available countries and time series

So far, there have been 2 rounds of surveys:

  • HETUS 2000: round 1 which was conducted between 1998 and 2006 in 15 EU countries (microdata not available)
  • HETUS 2010: round 2 which was conducted between 2008 and 2015 in 18 EU countries (microdata available)

The HETUS 2020 is currently ongoing. In this third round, 20 countries plan to conduct the survey. The data collection phase will be concluded in 2026. Eurostat will not be able to release microdata for this round before 2027. 

Data collection

Participating countries follow methodological guidelines for the HETUS 2000, 2010, and 2020 rounds, using standardised survey designs and statistical classifications as far as possible. Although there have been continuous efforts to make data comparable across countries and over time, differences remain. The surveys vary between countries in terms of frequency, timing, content,and structure.

Available microdata

Microdata for researchers in the form of scientific use files are available for 17 countries that participated in HETUS 2010 (round 2).

The HETUS scientific use files consist of 3 groups of data:

  • households: variables concerning the household as a whole
  • individuals: variables concerning individual household members
  • time use variables: variables describing the activities of individuals during a diary day in 10-minute time slots

The files are available for reference year 2010, meaning for HETUS  2010 for which the individual national surveys were conducted between 2008 and 2015. The following countries are included:

AT, BE, DE, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HU, IT, LU, NL, PL, RO, UK, NO, RS

Please consult our glossary for an explanation on the country codes used above.

Scientific use files are party anonymised to make it harder to identify individuals.

Further information