Moscow, July 11 (IANS) Russians spend an average of 27 minutes every day waiting in queues, longer than anywhere else in Europe.

This dismal statistic is mainly due to huge numbers of people at post offices and banks, a survey said. The study conducted in 18 countries examined queues in grocery stores, banks, post offices, drug stores, fast food restaurants, bus stops and train stations.

The poor show in Russia is also due to the fact that officials at places where people line up "never do anything to reduce the lines", Oksana Aulchenkova, head of Nextep company, which carried out the survey, was quoted as saying by The Moscow Times.

Italy had the second worst result, with queues taking 14 minutes on an average, while Sweden and Britain provided the fastest services, with two- and three-minute queues, respectively.

The average time that Europeans spend in a queue has doubled from five minutes to 10 minutes since 2008, the survey said.