How Paid Vacation Varies Around the World

In many parts of the world, paid leave is a given – something workers expect as a normal part of life. Elsewhere, it’s considered a benefit, not a right, and many people get by with very little. So how do different countries handle time off? And what is that time worth when you look at wages?

Moorepay analyzed data from government sources and the World Bank to uncover trends in paid vacation, public holidays, and how much those days are worth based on income.

Key Findings

• Yemen offers the most paid days off globally: 30 vacation days and 16 public holidays.
• The UK comes in at 114th place with a minimum of 28 paid days, including public holidays.
• The US remains the only developed country with zero guaranteed paid leave.
• Luxembourg has the highest-paid time off, over $11,500 worth per worker annually.
• European countries dominate in both the number of days off and their financial value.

How Countries Compare on Time Off

Some countries provide a generous mix of vacation days and public holidays. Others, surprisingly, offer none by law.

Iran stands out with a total of 53 paid days off each year. San Marino and Yemen follow closely with 46 and 44 days. Andorra also offers 44. Venezuela has the highest number of public holidays—23 in total—reflecting its diverse blend of cultural and religious events.

On the other end of the spectrum, countries like the US and India have limited or no mandated vacation leave. In those cases, whether workers get time off depends heavily on individual company policies.

Europe regularly tops global rankings when it comes to paid leave. Countries like France, Austria, and Spain offer well over 30 days off annually, combining vacation with public holidays – and these benefits are protected by law.

In Austria, for example, workers are entitled to 25 vacation days and 13 public holidays. However, full leave benefits usually kick in after six months on the job; before that, days off build up gradually.

Still, not everyone uses their full allowance. In Japan, employees may be entitled to as many as 20 vacation days, depending on how long they’ve been with a company. Yet many workers don’t take all of them – concerned about disrupting their team or being perceived as less committed.

The UK takes a slightly different route: employers can include the country’s 8 public holidays within the 28-day minimum required by law. That means public holidays aren’t necessarily extra days off – depending on your contract. Only a few other countries take a similar approach, including the US, Japan, Guyana, and the Netherlands.

What Paid Time Off Is Worth

Paid leave isn’t just about how many days you get – it’s also about how well those days pay. Moorepay estimated the value of time off by looking at how much a typical worker earns per day, multiplied by the number of paid days available.

Take Luxembourg. With 37 days of paid leave and average daily earnings of about $311, a worker there receives over $11,500 in paid time off per year.

Norway, Germany, and Denmark also rank highly – not only because of the amount of leave available, but because salaries are high enough to allow people to genuinely unwind during their time off.

Country-by-Country Breakdown

COUNTRY	PAID ANNUAL LEAVE DAYS	PAID PUBLIC HOLIDAYS	TOTAL TIME OFF DAYS	AVERAGE EARNINGS DURING TIME OFF (USD)	AVERAGE EARNIF DURING TIME OF
Luxembourg	26	11	37	$11,512	£8,434
Norway	25	12	37	$10,353	£7,585
Denmark	25	12	37	$8,702	£6,375
Sweden	25	16	41	$8,500	£6,228
Iceland	24	14	38	$8,239	£6,036
Austria	30	13	43	$7,444	£5,454
Finland	24	14	38	$6,751	£4,946
Ireland	20	11	31	$6,151	£4,507
France	30	11	41	$5,977	£4,379
Switzerland	20	1	21	$5,849	£4,285
Germany	24	9	33	$5,674	£4,157
Australia	20	9	29	$5,302	£3,885
Qatar	15	10	25	55,168	£3,786
New Zealand	20	11	31	$5,024	£3,681
Belgium	20	10	30	$5,009	£3,670
United Arab Emirates	22	13	35	$4,746	£3,478
Italy	26	12	38	$4,512	£3,305
Kuwait	22	13	35	$4,071	£2,983
United Kingdom	28	0	28	$4,040	£2,960
Singapore	7	12	19	$3,852	£2,823
Netherlands	20	0	20	$3,714	£2,721
Canada	10	12	22	$3,695	£2,707
Israel	12	8	20	$3,480	£2,549
South Korea	11	20	31	53,479	£2,549
Cyprus	20	15	35	$3,456	£2,532
Slovenia	20	16	36	$3,383	£2,479
Bahrain	30	14	44	$3,036	£2,225
Spain	22	8	30	$3,014	£2,208
Estonia	20	12	32	$2,875	£2,107
Czech Republic	20	15	35	$2,778	£2,035
Lithuania	20	14	34	$2,714	£1,989
Portugal	22	13	35	$2,705	£1,982
Slovakia	20	14	34	$2,365	£1,732
Saudi Arabia	21	9	30	$2,261	£1,656
Greece	20	12	32	$2,210	£1,619
Bahamas	10	11	21	$2,091	£1,532
Croatia	20	14	34	$1,979	£1.450
Poland	20	12	32	$1,973	£1,445
Latvia	20	10	30	$1,949	£1,428
Oman	22	16	38	$1,909	£1,398
Hungary	20	11	31	$1,835	£1,345
Barbados	15	13	28	$1,653	£1,211
Brunei	7	11	18	$1,637	£1,199
Panama	22	12	34	$1,611	£1,180
Trinidad and Tobago	10	16	26	$1,575	£1,154
Chile	15	19	34	$1,512	£1,108
Uruguay	20	5	25	$1,472	£1,078
Romania	20	10	30	$1,463	£1,072
Maldives	22	20	42	$1,409	£1,033
Bulgaria	20	14	34	$1,376	£1,008
Seychelles	15	10	25	$1,225	£898
Russia	20	14	34	$1,223	£896
Japan	10	0	10	$1,221	£894
Mauritius	20	15	35	$1,143	£838
Montenegro	20	11	31	$1,052	£771
Costa Rica	14	9	23	$1,028	£753
Cuba	22	10	32	$1,010	£740
Serbia	20	13	33	$981	£719
Argentina	10	16	26	$946	£693
Brazil	22	18	40	$924	£677
Libya	30	15	45	$835	£612
Turkey	14	14	28	$806	£591
Kazakhstan	18	13	31	$789	£578
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	14	13	27	$787	£576
Dominican Republic	14	12	26	$766	£561
Albania	22	14	36	$758	£555
Bosnia and Herzegovina	20	11	31	$746	£547
North Macedonia	20	11	31	$744	£545
Saint Lucia	16	8	24	$735	£538
Peru	22	12	34	$699	£512
Georgia	24	18	42	$686	£503
Colombia	15	18	33	$677	£496
China	5	13	18	$649	£476
Turkmenistan	22	10	32	$641	£469
Gabon	24	12	36	$639	£468
Belarus	18	9	27	$628	£460
South Africa	15	13	28	$618	£453
Dominica	10	12	22	$618	£453
Dominica	10	12	22	$618	£453
Moldova	20	11	31	$589	£432
Malaysia	8	11	19	$586	£429
Azerbaijan	15	21	36	$571	£418
Mexico	12	7	19	$566	£414
Iraq	21	15	36	$537	£394
Namibia	20	15	35	$507	£371
Botswana	15	8	23	$502	£368
Ukraine	18	14	32	$502	£368
Iran	22	20	42	$501	£367
Armenia	20	12	32	$485	£355
Egypt	21	16	37	$471	£345
Jordan	14	15	29	$456	£332
Guatemala	15	12	27	$452	£331
Djibouti	30	11	41	$451	£330
Belize	10	13	23	$449	£329
Paraguay	12	9	21	$442	£324
Kiribati	22	17	39	$437	£320
Morocco	18	14	32	$432	£316
Thailand	6	13	19	$410	£300
Cape Verde	22	9	31	$398	£292
Ecuador	11	11	22	$389	£285
Lebanon	15	17	32	$387	£284
Jamaica	10	10	20	$375	£275
El Salvador	15	10	25	$371	£272
Algeria	22	11	33	$371	£272
Indonesia	12	17	29	$370	£271
Vanuatu	15	14	29	$367	£269
Ivory Coast	26	16	42	$364	£266
Tonga	12	9	21	$360	£264
Tunisia	12	15	27	$355	£260
Equatorial Guinea	22	10	32	$347	£252
Micronesia	6	16	22	$329	£241
Bhutan	18	9	27	$318	£233
Fiji	10	11	21	$318	£233
Samoa	10	12	22	$311	£228
Sri Lanka	10	11	21	$303	£222
Guyana	12	0	12	$301	£221
Eswatini	12	13	25	$289	£211
Mongolia	15	11	26	$287	£210
Vietnam	12	11	23	$275	£202
Bolivia	15	9	24	$255	£187
Bangladesh	14	11	25	$252	£184
Nicaragua	22	13	35	$245	£179
Kenya	21	12	33	$236	£173
India	12	17	29	$221	£162
Cambodia	18	22	40	$215	£158
Ghana	15	14	29	$214	£157
Zimbabwe	21	15	36	$213	£156
Philippines	5	11	16	$205	£150
Senegal	24	13	37	$204	£149
Honduras	10	11	21	$202	£148
Mauritania	18	10	28	$198	£145
Solomon Islands	15	10	25	$197	£145
Comoros	22	9	31	$180	£132
Papua New Guinea	10	14	24	$176	£129
Benin	24	12	36	$169	£124
Angola	22	12	34	$168	£120
Cameroon	IS	12	30	$165	£121
Laos	15	6	21	$154	£113
Haiti	11	11	22	$153	£112
Congo	26	9	35	$150	£110
Pakistan	10	17	27	$147	£108
Guinea	30	11	41	$140	£103
Uzbekistan	15	9	24	$140	£103
Nigeria	6	15	21	$140	£102
Togo	30	11	41	$137	£100
Myanmar	10	22	32	$134	£98
Nepal	13	13	26	$117	£86
Kyrgyzstan	20	12	32	$111	£82
Yemen	30	16	46	$111	£81
Ethiopia	16	17	33	$104	£76
Guinea-Bissau	22	14	36	$98	£72
Lesotho	12	11	23	$95	£70
Burkina Faso	22	13	35	$94	£69
Mali	24	11	35	$91	£66
Uganda	21	13	34	$89	£65
Zambia	24	11	35	$85	£63
Niger	22	13	35	$83	£61
Rwanda	18	12	30	$81	£59
Sudan	15	13	28	$67	£49
Malawi	15	14	29	$65	£48
The Gambia	14	12	26	$65	£48
Syria	24	9	33	$63	£46
Central African Republic	24	13	37	$62	£45
Sierra Leone	22	13	35	$60	£44
Madagascar	22	13	35	$59	£43
Chad	24	4	28	$52	£38
Somalia	22	12	34	$48	£36
Afghanistan	20	15	35	$48	£35
Timor Leste	12	10	22	$37	£27
Mozambique	12	9	21	$31	£23
DR Congo	12	9	21	$28	£20
Liberia	7	9	16	$22	£16
Burundi	20	11	31	$19	£14
Monaco	30	12	42	n/a	n/a
Malta	24	14	38	n/a	n/a
Venezuela	15	23	38	n/a	n/a
Andorra	22	14	36	n/a	n/a
South Sudan	21	15	36	n/a	n/a
Kosovo	20	12	32	n/a	n/a
Nauru	20	10	30	n/a	n/a
Eritrea	14	14	28	n/a	n/a
Grenada	14	14	28	n/a	n/a
Saint Kitts and Nevis	14	10	24	n/a	n/a
Antigua and Barbuda	12	11	23	n/a	n/a
Tuvalu	12	11	23	n/a	n/a
Taiwan	7	12	19	n/a	n/a
Palau	6	13	19	n/a	n/a
United States of America	0	0	0	$0	£0

Paid leave isn’t just a number in the labor code—it reflects how much a country prioritizes rest, personal time, and long-term well-being. Whether considered a basic right or an earned benefit, the way time off is handled says a lot about how a nation supports its workers.