Iranian news agency Mehr reported in recent days that Iranians are the world's third laziest people, in terms of the efficiency of employees in the public and private sectors.

Government employees devote most of their working hours to meals, drinking tea and talking on the telephone, according to the data published by the news agency. The average Iranian employee churns out six to eight efficient work hours per week. The average public sector employee works only for 64 minutes during a work day, while a private sector employee works 126 minutes on average.
 
The report is cited by the Meir Amit Center for Intelligence and Terror.
 
The annual efficient work hours for an Iranian employee reach about 800 [if this does not add up with the weekly numbers – chalk it up to laziness on the part of the Iranian researchers – Ed.]. This is juxtaposed with 2,420 hours in Japan, 1,900 in South Korea, 1,700 in Germany, 1,420 in China, 1,360 in the U.S., 1,330 in Turkey and 950 in Afghanistan.
 
Only employees in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have less efficient hours per year than Iranians.
 
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has declared the current year (1390 in the Islamic count) as the "economic jihad" year, and Persian press is abuzz with statistics about Iranian sloth. In July, Iranian press published research that showed Iranians as the world's third laziest people or race – after Arabs and Africans.
 
Iranian sociologist Abbas Mahmadi told Mehr that among the reasons for Iranian's inefficiency are the fact that Iran's economy is based on natural treasures, of which the primary is oil; a common feeling of despair among youths who suffer from uncertainty over whether they will have a job, marry and advance in life; and the effect of television and computers, which make Iranians less physically active than they used to be.