Paid Vacation Days: Which Country Gets The Most?

The United States is the country with fewest days of paid leave (0) and the second lowest number of paid vacation days in the world (10)

After years of social progress and improvements to work-life balance, conflicting pressures are fragmenting the work world’s approach to paid leave.

Employers struggling to attract talent are paying workers more, leaving firms understaffed but with a steep payroll to meet and a reluctance to give time off. In 2022, only 35% of U.S. organizations offer paid maternity leave – a shocking drop from 53% just two years ago, according to a survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). For paid paternity leave, the drop is from 44% to 27% in the same period.
 

Meanwhile, workers continue to suffer the health and mental health fallout of the pandemic. Covid-19 prompted a 25% rise in anxiety and depression globally. Today, the workforce is adjusting to post-lockdown conditions – whether returning to the workplace, adapting to a permanent WFH or hybrid situation, or rethinking things entirely in light of lay-offs, organizational changes, and the volatile economic landscape.

And governments are stepping in to maintain a balance. Around the world, some are mandating paid leave for the sick and even for victims of domestic violence, while others resist pressure to add annual bank holidays to the calendar.

In these fluctuating conditions, it makes sense to know your rights and manage your time with care. So, Resume.io has found out how much paid annual leave and how many public holidays are available in every country around the world – and how paid vacation days compare in total from one place to another.

Key Findings

1. Iran has the most public holidays (27) in the world and the most paid vacation days overall (53).
2. We found 23 countries with 30 days of paid leave per year, the highest number of paid leave available.
3. The United States is the country with the joint fewest days of paid leave (0) and the second lowest number of paid vacation days in the world (10).

The U.S. is the Second-Worst Country for Paid Vacation Days, the Worst is Micronesia

African and Middle Eastern countries dominate the top of the table. Iran has the most statutory annual vacation days in the world (53), with a clear week’s worth more than second-placed San Marino (46). As well as a reasonable 26 days of paid leave, Iran has nearly a month of public holidays (27 days), which is more than any other country. Religious holidays and days to mark events concerning the Islamic Revolution contribute to this total.
   

The U.S. Has the World’s Least Paid Leave (Hint: It’s Zero)

Four weeks' leave has become something of a norm around much of the world – though some count it in working days (i.e., 20 days) and some in full weeks or a month (28-30 days). We identified 22 countries with a 30-day leave plan, of which 10 are in Africa. The average by country is 18.2 days of paid leave per year.
   

San Marino is Europe’s Capital of Public Holidays

The U.S. does at least have 10 “legal public holidays,” although it is not obligatory for private employers to honor them with days off (except in lucky Massachusetts and Rhode Island). However, state and federal organizations and some private firms do award these days as leave. The majority of private employers give paid time off for New Year’s Day, Memorial Day (the last Monday in May), Independence Day, Labor Day (the first Monday in September), Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday in November), and Christmas Day. Juneteenth and the birthdays of Martin Luther King, Jr. and George Washington are more of a lottery.
 
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Author Bio

Lotte van Rijswijk is Content Team Lead at Resume.io. Visit https://resume.io/