FAA
At my school in the US our private pilot's certificate course has a minimum of 35 hrs of flight time. 20 dual and 5 solo and the rest either/or. Recently we had one guy graduate with 35.6 hrs but usually it's more like 40-50.
I agree that this is a result of a well managed program, we do change instructors though. I also believe it's a function of a well structured ground training syllabus, a lot of navigation etc.. involves mental knowledge not stick & rudder skills.
Also, we do not spend hours in the traffic pattern trying to get someone ready to solo at an early phase of the course. We introduce basic flying skills and traffic patterns but then move right into navigation and night and continue working on the landings in the meantime. This eliminates hours of time spent going up just to do circuits. Nobody solos at our school until they have completed all the requirements and are ready for their private pilot flight test. Then they go solo, then take a flight test.
The only reason for pushing someone to solo early in their training is for pride (I soloed at 12 hrs!! etc...)
There is a huge variation in the quality of flight training in the industry. I have seen guys with over 100 hrs who still haven't done their cross country training (what the hell have their instructors been doing with them?).
A lot depends on the school, and the instructor and to a degree the student.