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Data study · 2026 · Last updated

Oct 2026: India updated for the OSH Code 2020; Luxembourg, Malta, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary and Estonia added.

How many paid days off does an employee actually get?

A 35-country comparison of the legally mandated MINIMUM paid annual leave plus 2026 public holidays — from 38 guaranteed days off in Austria and Malta to the United States' statutory zero.

Short answer: across these 35 countries, statutory paid time off ranges from a legal floor of zero in the United States (no mandated paid annual leave) to 38 days a year in Austria and Malta (leave plus public holidays), with most of Europe guaranteeing 30–38. The full ranked table is below.

Key findings

  • The legally guaranteed gap is enormous: Austria and Malta mandate 38 paid days off (Austria 25 leave + 13 holidays, Malta 24 + 14) while the United States guarantees 0 statutory leave days — a spread of nearly 8 working weeks before any employer goodwill.
  • The US is the clear outlier: the only advanced economy with no statutory paid annual leave, and even its 11 federal holidays carry no legal requirement to be paid for private-sector workers — so the true legal floor of guaranteed paid time off is zero.
  • Europe dominates the top: Austria and Malta (38), Finland and Luxembourg (37), France/Spain/Sweden (36) and Denmark/Portugal (35) lead on combined paid days off, each pairing 22-26 days of statutory leave with 10-14 public holidays.
  • Europe's own spread is 10 days: from 38 in Austria and Malta down to 28 in the United Kingdom, with Germany's 29 the lowest in the EU. Luxembourg's 26 days are the most statutory leave of any country here.
  • The EU floor holds everywhere: every EU member state guarantees at least 20 days (4 weeks) of paid leave under the Working Time Directive. Of the EU countries here, five (France, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Finland) legislate 25 days and Luxembourg 26.
  • Asia sits far below Europe on leave: Singapore starts at just 7 days, Japan at 10 (after 6 months) and India around 15 — yet Japan offsets this with 16 public holidays, the most of any major economy.
  • Public-holiday extremes: Mexico mandates only 7 statutory holidays (the fewest of any major economy) versus Japan's 16 and Spain's/UAE's 14.
  • The 'calendar days' trap catches HR teams out: Spain, Brazil and the UAE all write '30 days' into law, but that means calendar days — roughly 22 working days — not 30 days off the desk.
  • Headline Nordic numbers overstate reality: Norway's '25 days' and Finland's '30 days' both count Saturdays, so a Monday-Friday worker actually gets 21 and ~25 weekday days respectively.
  • Britain's generous-sounding 28 days is really the EU minimum in disguise: the 5.6-week entitlement bundles in the 8 bank holidays, leaving a leave-only floor of 20 — the same as Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

Statutory paid days off by country (2026), ranked

Statutory minimum paid annual leave plus 2026 public holidays, by country
Country Annual leave Public holidays Total paid days off
Austria 25 13 38
Malta 24 14 38
Finland 25 12 37
Luxembourg 26 11 37
France 25 11 36
Sweden 25 11 36
Spain 22 14 36
United Arab Emirates 22 14 36
Denmark 25 10 35
Portugal 22 13 35
Poland 20 13 33
Czechia 20 13 33
Croatia 20 13 33
Brazil 22 10 32
Italy 20 12 32
Greece 20 12 32
Norway 21 10 31
New Zealand 20 11 31
Netherlands 20 11 31
Hungary 20 11 31
Ireland 20 10 30
Australia 20 10 30
Belgium 20 10 30
Estonia 20 10 30
Germany 20 9 29
Switzerland 20 9 29
United Kingdom 20 8 28
South Africa 15 13 28
India 15 12 27
Turkey 14 12 26
Japan 10 16 26
Canada 10 10 20
Mexico 12 7 19
Singapore 7 11 18
United States 0 11 11

Annual leave = legally mandated minimum paid leave for a full-time employee, in working days (5-day week), excluding public holidays. Public holidays = nationwide designated holidays in 2026. Figures are statutory minimums; see the notes and sources below.

Which European country has the most vacation days?

Austria and Malta guarantee the most paid days off in Europe: 38 days in 2026, statutory annual leave plus public holidays. Of the 23 European countries in this study, the fewest is 28 (United Kingdom). Every EU country guarantees at least 20 days of leave.

  1. 1. Austria 25 leave + 13 holidays 38 days
  2. 1. Malta 24 leave + 14 holidays 38 days
  3. 3. Finland 25 leave + 12 holidays 37 days
  4. 3. Luxembourg 26 leave + 11 holidays 37 days
  5. 5. France 25 leave + 11 holidays 36 days
  6. 5. Sweden 25 leave + 11 holidays 36 days
  7. 5. Spain 22 leave + 14 holidays 36 days
  8. 8. Denmark 25 leave + 10 holidays 35 days
  9. 8. Portugal 22 leave + 13 holidays 35 days
  10. 10. Poland 20 leave + 13 holidays 33 days
  11. 10. Czechia 20 leave + 13 holidays 33 days
  12. 10. Croatia 20 leave + 13 holidays 33 days
Country notes & sources
Austria — 38 days
Austria guarantees 25 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 13 public holidays in 2026 — 38 paid days off a year. Joint most generous with Malta. 25 working days (5 weeks), rising to 30 after 25 years' service; 13 public holidays. Source: Urlaubsgesetz (Annual Leave Act)
Malta — 38 days
Malta guarantees 24 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 14 public holidays in 2026 — 38 paid days off a year. 192 hours (4 weeks + 32 hours on a 40-hour week) = 24 working days. Since 2021 every public holiday that falls on a weekend adds a day of leave: 3 do in 2026, raising that year's leave to 27 days (216 hours). Source: Organisation of Working Time Regulations (S.L. 452.87), reg. 8; National Holidays Act (Cap. 252)
Finland — 37 days
Finland guarantees 25 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 12 public holidays in 2026 — 37 paid days off a year. Annual Holidays Act gives 2.5 days/month = 30 'working days' that COUNT Saturdays (≈25 Mon-Fri days, i.e. 5 weeks). First-year accrual is 2 days/month (24). Source: Vuosilomalaki (Annual Holidays Act); TEM
Luxembourg — 37 days
Luxembourg guarantees 26 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 11 public holidays in 2026 — 37 paid days off a year. 26 working days whatever the employee's age, the most statutory leave of any country in this study. 11 public holidays including Europe Day (9 May). A holiday on a Sunday, or on a Saturday the employee would not have worked, earns a compensatory day off: 4 fall on a weekend in 2026. Source: Code du travail, Art. L.233-4 and L.232-2
France — 36 days
France guarantees 25 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 11 public holidays in 2026 — 36 paid days off a year. 5 weeks (30 'jours ouvrables' on a 6-day week = 25 on a 5-day week); many also get RTT days. Alsace-Moselle observes 13 holidays. Source: Code du travail, Art. L3141-3
Sweden — 36 days
Sweden guarantees 25 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 11 public holidays in 2026 — 36 paid days off a year. 25 days (5 weeks) under the Annual Leave Act. Sweden has 13 statutory 'helgdagar'; 2 (Easter Sunday, Whit Sunday) always fall on a Sunday, so 11 fall on potential working days — the figure shown. Source: Semesterlagen (Annual Leave Act 1977)
Spain — 36 days
Spain guarantees 22 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 14 public holidays in 2026 — 36 paid days off a year. Law sets '30 calendar days' = 22 working days. Up to 14 paid public holidays including national, regional and 2 local days. Source: Estatuto de los Trabajadores, Art. 38
United Arab Emirates — 36 days
United Arab Emirates guarantees 22 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 14 public holidays in 2026 — 36 paid days off a year. Labour Law sets '30 calendar days' after 1 year ≈ 22 working days (2 days/month for 6-12 months' service). Islamic holiday dates and count (~12-15 days) depend on moon-sighting. Source: UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021, Art. 29
Denmark — 35 days
Denmark guarantees 25 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 10 public holidays in 2026 — 35 paid days off a year. 5 weeks under the Holiday Act; many get extra 'feriefridage' via agreements. Great Prayer Day (Store Bededag) was abolished as a public holiday in 2024. Source: Ferieloven (Holiday Act 2020)
Portugal — 35 days
Portugal guarantees 22 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 13 public holidays in 2026 — 35 paid days off a year. 22 working days minimum; 13 national public holidays plus municipal days. Source: Código do Trabalho, Art. 238
Poland — 33 days
Poland guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 13 public holidays in 2026 — 33 paid days off a year. 20 days for under 10 years' total service, 26 days at 10+ years (education counts toward the threshold, so most reach 26 quickly). Source: Polish Labour Code, Art. 154
Czechia — 33 days
Czechia guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 13 public holidays in 2026 — 33 paid days off a year. 4 weeks under the Labour Code (5 weeks with the state, local government and publicly funded employers; 8 for teachers). 13 public holidays in 2026 under Act No. 245/2000 Coll.; no substitute day when one falls on a weekend. Source: Labour Code (Act No. 262/2006 Coll.), §213; Act No. 245/2000 Coll.
Croatia — 33 days
Croatia guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 13 public holidays in 2026 — 33 paid days off a year. At least 4 weeks, counted in working days with holidays excluded (5 weeks for minors and some hazardous jobs). The Holidays Act lists 14 days; Easter Sunday always falls on a Sunday, so 13 can fall on a working day. No substitute day for a holiday on a weekend. Source: Zakon o radu (Labour Act), Art. 77; Zakon o blagdanima (Holidays Act), Art. 1
Brazil — 32 days
Brazil guarantees 22 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 10 public holidays in 2026 — 32 paid days off a year. Brazil's law writes '30 calendar days' of leave = 22 working days. 10 national public holidays in 2026 (Black Consciousness Day, 20 Nov, became a national holiday in 2024); Carnival is widely observed but is an optional 'ponto facultativo', not a national holiday. Source: CLT (Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho), Art. 130
Italy — 32 days
Italy guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 12 public holidays in 2026 — 32 paid days off a year. Minimum 4 weeks; many CLAs grant 26+. 11 national holidays plus 1 local patron-saint day. Source: Italian Civil Code; Legislative Decree 66/2003
Greece — 32 days
Greece guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 12 public holidays in 2026 — 32 paid days off a year. 20 working days on a 5-day week (24 on a 6-day week), rising with tenure to 25-26. Public holidays follow the Orthodox calendar. Source: Greek Labour Law (L.539/1945, as amended)
Norway — 31 days
Norway guarantees 21 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 10 public holidays in 2026 — 31 paid days off a year. Holidays Act grants 25 'working days' but counts Saturdays = 4 weeks + 1 day = 21 Mon-Fri days. Most employees get 5 weeks via collective agreement. Source: Ferieloven (Holidays Act); regjeringen.no
New Zealand — 31 days
New Zealand guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 11 public holidays in 2026 — 31 paid days off a year. 4 weeks statutory leave; 11 national public holidays plus 1 regional anniversary day (=12 locally). Source: Holidays Act 2003; Employment New Zealand
Netherlands — 31 days
Netherlands guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 11 public holidays in 2026 — 31 paid days off a year. Minimum is 4x weekly working days (=20). Public holidays are NOT statutorily paid — whether they are paid depends on the employer or collective agreement. Source: Dutch Civil Code, Art. 7:634
Hungary — 31 days
Hungary guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 11 public holidays in 2026 — 31 paid days off a year. 20 working days of base leave, plus age-related extra days from 25 (1 day) up to 45 (10 days, so 30 in total); parents get more. The Labour Code lists 13 public holidays; Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday always fall on a Sunday, so 11 can fall on a working day. No substitute day for a holiday on a weekend. Source: Labour Code (Act I of 2012), s.116, s.117 and s.102
Ireland — 30 days
Ireland guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 10 public holidays in 2026 — 30 paid days off a year. 4 weeks statutory leave; 10 public holidays since St Brigid's Day was added in 2023. Source: Organisation of Working Time Act 1997; Citizens Information (gov.ie)
Australia — 30 days
Australia guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 10 public holidays in 2026 — 30 paid days off a year. 4 weeks under the National Employment Standards (5 weeks for some shift workers). 7 holidays are nationwide; states add 3-8 more (ACT up to ~15). Source: Fair Work Act 2009 (NES); Fair Work Ombudsman 2026 public holidays
Belgium — 30 days
Belgium guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 10 public holidays in 2026 — 30 paid days off a year. 4 weeks statutory leave based on the prior year's work; 10 statutory paid public holidays. Source: Belgian Annual Holidays Act; Royal Decree of 30 March 1967
Estonia — 30 days
Estonia guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 10 public holidays in 2026 — 30 paid days off a year. 28 calendar days = 4 weeks = 20 working days; a public holiday inside the leave extends it. The law lists 12 holidays; Easter Sunday and Pentecost always fall on a Sunday, so 10 can fall on a working day. Source: Employment Contracts Act, §55; Public Holidays and Days of National Importance Act
Germany — 29 days
Germany guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 9 public holidays in 2026 — 29 paid days off a year. Federal minimum is 20 days (law states 24 working days on a 6-day week); many collective agreements give 25-30. Public holidays vary by Land: 9 nationwide, up to ~13 in Bavaria. Source: Bundesurlaubsgesetz (Federal Leave Act); Länder holiday lists 2026
Switzerland — 29 days
Switzerland guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 9 public holidays in 2026 — 29 paid days off a year. 4 weeks minimum (5 weeks for under-20s). Only 1 August is a federal holiday; cantons set the rest (typically 8-15). Source: Swiss Code of Obligations, Art. 329a
United Kingdom — 28 days
United Kingdom guarantees 20 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 8 public holidays in 2026 — 28 paid days off a year. Statutory entitlement is 5.6 weeks = 28 days INCLUDING the 8 bank holidays; shown as 20 leave + 8 holidays to avoid double-counting. England/Wales have 8 bank holidays (Scotland 9, NI 10). Source: GOV.UK Holiday entitlement; Working Time Regulations 1998
South Africa — 28 days
South Africa guarantees 15 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 13 public holidays in 2026 — 28 paid days off a year. 21 consecutive days = 15 working days. For 2026 the effective count is 13 public holidays: Women's Day (9 Aug) falls on a Sunday, so Monday 10 Aug is a substitute public holiday under the Public Holidays Act. Source: Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Sec. 20; Public Holidays Act
India — 27 days
India guarantees 15 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 12 public holidays in 2026 — 27 paid days off a year. Highly variable by state and statute. The OSH Code 2020, in force since 21 November 2025 in place of the Factories Act, keeps earned leave at 1 day per 20 days worked (≈15 a year) from 180 days of work; office staff mostly fall under state Shops & Establishments Acts. Only 3 holidays are truly nationwide (Republic, Independence, Gandhi Jayanti); ~17 central 'gazetted' holidays exist and employers typically grant 10-15. Source: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020; state Shops & Establishments Acts
Turkey — 26 days
Turkey guarantees 14 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 12 public holidays in 2026 — 26 paid days off a year. 7 national days plus the multi-day religious festivals (Ramazan Bayrami ~3 days, Kurban Bayrami ~4 days), which shift annually with moon-sighting; ~12 full days in 2026 (approximate). Source: Turkish Labour Law No. 4857, Art. 53
Japan — 26 days
Japan guarantees 10 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 16 public holidays in 2026 — 26 paid days off a year. 10 days after 6 months' service, rising to 20 with tenure. Japan has the most public holidays of any major economy (a 17th 'bridge' holiday occurs in 2026), though holidays are not legally required to be paid. Source: Labour Standards Act, Art. 39; Cabinet Office holiday list 2026
Canada — 20 days
Canada guarantees 10 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 10 public holidays in 2026 — 20 paid days off a year. Federally regulated basis: 2 weeks leave after 1 year (rising to 15 days after 5-6 years) + 10 paid general holidays. Province-regulated workers vary — most provinces legislate 5-13 holidays (Ontario ~9) and 2 weeks' leave. Source: Canada Labour Code; provincial employment standards acts
Mexico — 19 days
Mexico guarantees 12 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 7 public holidays in 2026 — 19 paid days off a year. 2023 'Vacaciones Dignas' reform doubled year-one leave from 6 to 12 days (+2/year up to 20, then +2 per 5 years). Only 7 statutory public holidays — the fewest among major economies. Source: Ley Federal del Trabajo, Art. 76 & 74 (2023 reform)
Singapore — 18 days
Singapore guarantees 7 days of statutory paid annual leave plus 11 public holidays in 2026 — 18 paid days off a year. Just 7 days in the first year, increasing by 1 per year of service to a statutory cap of 14. 11 gazetted public holidays in 2026. Source: Employment Act; Ministry of Manpower (MOM) 2026 public holidays
United States — 11 days
United States guarantees no statutory paid annual leave plus 11 public holidays in 2026 — 11 paid days off a year. No federal statutory paid annual leave — the only advanced economy with a legal floor of 0. The 11 federal holidays are NOT legally mandated as paid for private-sector workers, so guaranteed paid time off is effectively zero; most employers voluntarily offer ~10-15 days. Source: US Fair Labor Standards Act (no paid-leave mandate); OPM federal holidays 2026; CEPR 'No-Vacation Nation'

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Frequently asked questions

Which country gives the most paid time off?

Austria and Malta guarantee the most: 38 paid days off a year each (Austria 25 days of statutory annual leave plus 13 public holidays, Malta 24 plus 14). Finland and Luxembourg (37) and France, Spain, Sweden and the UAE (36 each) follow close behind.

Does the United States have statutory paid annual leave?

No. The US is the only advanced economy with no federal statutory paid annual leave — the legal floor is zero. Its 11 federal holidays are not legally required to be paid for private-sector workers either, though most US employers voluntarily offer around 10-15 days of PTO.

How many days of paid leave does the EU require?

Every EU member state must guarantee at least 20 working days (4 weeks) of paid annual leave under the Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC). Of the EU countries in this study, France, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Finland legislate 25 days and Luxembourg 26.

Which European country has the fewest vacation days?

Of the European countries in this study, the United Kingdom has the fewest: 28 paid days off, because its 5.6-week entitlement already includes the 8 bank holidays. Within the EU, Germany is lowest at 29 (20 days of federal minimum leave plus 9 nationwide public holidays), though many German collective agreements give 25-30 days.

Do public holidays count as annual leave?

In most countries, no: public holidays come on top of statutory annual leave, which is why this study adds the two together. The United Kingdom is the main exception, since employers may count bank holidays toward the 28-day statutory minimum.

Are these figures the actual leave employees get?

These are statutory minimums. Real-world entitlements are often higher through collective agreements, seniority or employer policy. Public-holiday counts are nationwide 2026 figures and vary by state, region or canton. Treat this as informational analysis, not legal advice.

Methodology

Statutory annual leave is the legally mandated MINIMUM paid leave for a full-time employee, normalized to a 5-day working week and expressed in working days, excluding public holidays (the one exception, the UK, bundles bank holidays into its headline figure, so we split it as 20 leave + 8 holidays). Where service raises the entitlement, we report the most common first-year/baseline figure and flag the increase in the note. Where national law expresses leave in calendar days (Spain, Brazil, UAE: '30 days') we convert to working days. Public holidays are the count of designated nationwide public holidays in 2026; totalPaidDaysOff = statutory annual leave + public holidays (a mechanical, reproducible sum). Primary sources are the EU Working Time Directive 2003/88/EC, national labour codes and government/ministry sources, and 2026 official public-holiday calendars, cross-checked against the OECD and Wikipedia's minimum-annual-leave compilation.

These are statutory MINIMUMS — real-world entitlements are frequently higher through collective agreements, seniority, or employer policy (e.g. US employers typically give ~10-15 days despite a 0 legal floor; many German and Italian CLAs grant 25-30). Public-holiday counts are nationwide/representative for 2026 and vary materially by state, Land, canton or province (Germany 9-13, Switzerland ~8-15, Australia, Canada and India especially) and by religious calendars and moon-sightings (UAE, Turkey). Holidays that fall on a weekend are counted as they are listed; where a country gives a day back for them (Luxembourg and Malta, for instance), the note says so. Some countries do not legally require public holidays to be paid (notably the US private sector and, technically, Japan and the Netherlands), so the totalPaidDaysOff sum should be read as 'days off that exist', annotated by the per-country notes rather than a guarantee. Nordic 'working day' definitions count Saturdays, so headline figures overstate weekday leave. This is editorial/informational analysis, not legal advice — verify against current national legislation before relying on any figure.

Download the dataset (CSV): the same 35 rows as the table, with each country's statute, source link and the date it was last verified. To work out one employee's entitlement, use the annual leave calculator.

Licensed under CC BY 4.0: free to use, chart and republish with credit. Suggested credit: "Source: Absenca, Paid leave by country 2026 (absenca.com/paid-leave-by-country)".

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