Paid Vacation Days by Country (2027): The Legal Minimum vs What Companies Actually Give

Paid vacation days by country look very different once you separate the law from the days employers assign. For a team working across borders, you also need to know whether public holidays sit inside that allowance and how much leave employees record.

Key takeaways

• The UK has the highest comparable legal minimum in this 2027 guide: 28 days on a five-day week, which can include bank holidays.
• The US has no federal paid-vacation minimum (0 days, per the Department of Labor, checked October 2026). Employers can still offer paid vacation.
• The Philippines has the most public holidays in this guide, with 20 in 2027; Switzerland has a single federal holiday.
• According to what we’re seeing in Vacation Tracker, companies set a median yearly vacation allowance of 15 days across all countries in the dataset (November 2024 to September 2026).
• Employees took a median of 11.2 vacation days a year.
• In all 20 countries with both figures in the November 2024 to September 2026 data, median recorded vacation days were below median company allowances. That comparison does not measure each employee’s unused balance.

Which countries get the most paid vacation days?

The UK leads this comparison with 28 days, which can include bank holidays. France, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have 25-day figures, subject to eligibility and accrual rules. At the bottom, the US has no federal minimum at all, so it sits at zero; among countries that set a minimum, China and the Philippines start lowest, at five days.

The comparison covers 43 countries, not every country worldwide. Country-specific official sources are listed below. France’s 30 jours ouvrables amount to five weeks, while Brazil’s and Peru’s 30 calendar days include weekends. Those are different amounts of working time off.

Just above them, Thailand starts at six days, and Singapore and Hong Kong at seven, rising with service. The Philippines’ service incentive leave can cover sickness and other absences as well as vacation, so it is not a dedicated vacation allowance.

How do paid vacation days by country compare in the 2027 table?

Read the law’s unit before comparing annual leave by country: calendar days include weekends, working-day definitions vary, and public holidays may be included. The five-day-week column is a comparison aid, not a replacement for the legal entitlement; conversions of 30 calendar days to about 22 working days are approximate. The Sources column links to our leave-laws guide for each country and to the official sources for the legal minimum and the public holidays.

Legal minimums checked on official government sources on October 22, 2026. Not legal advice; check the law for your situation.

Public holidays: national public holidays in 2027 according to each government’s official calendar or law. Regional holidays, holidays that always fall on a Sunday and substitute days are not counted; the dates of Islamic and lunar holidays are estimated where the 2027 calendar isn’t published yet.

For details beyond the baseline, start with our national labor standards guides. Sick leave is a separate comparison: see sick leave policies around the world.

Which countries have the most vacation days by law?

The UK sits at the top of this guide’s five-day-week comparison with 28 days, including any bank holidays the employer counts toward the entitlement. France, Austria, Sweden and Denmark have five-week figures, while Finland reaches five weeks under its qualifying service and accrual rules.

France counts 30 jours ouvrables, normally Monday through Saturday, equivalent to 25 working days on a five-day week. Brazil and Peru count 30 calendar days, approximately 22 working days. In Brazil, unjustified absences can reduce the entitlement; Peru’s general private-sector entitlement has attendance conditions.

Lists of countries with the most vacation days become misleading when they rank all those “30s” together. Compare the workweek and the treatment of public holidays before comparing the headline number.

Which countries provide 20 or more paid vacation days?

Germany, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands have four-week baselines, equivalent to 20 working days on a five-day week. Australia and New Zealand also provide four weeks for covered employees, while Portugal’s minimum is 22 working days.

Norway’s 25 virkedager include Saturdays, giving 21 days on a five-day working week. Spain’s 30 calendar days are approximately 22 working days. Neither should be read as 25 or 30 Monday-to-Friday days off.

Work schedules deserve a separate check. Our guides cover standard working hours in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Which countries provide 10 to 19 paid vacation days?

Japan starts at 10 working days after six months of continuous employment and at least 80% attendance. Its entitlement rises with service. Argentina starts at 14 calendar days, equivalent to 10 working days, with longer periods for greater seniority.

Canada’s federal rules provide two weeks after one year, three after five years and four after 10 years with the same employer. These rules cover federally regulated employment; provincial rules differ. Québec, for example, reaches three weeks after three years of uninterrupted service.

Mexico’s minimum is 12 working days after the first year, with increases for seniority. The reform that took effect in 2023 replaced the old six-day starting point, so older country comparisons can substantially understate the entitlement.

Which countries have the fewest paid vacation days?

The US has no federal law requiring paid vacation, according to the Department of Labor. That does not mean Americans receive no paid leave: the company median in our dataset is 13.1 vacation days, and employees take a median of 8.8 days a year.

Among countries that set a legal minimum, China and the Philippines start lowest, at five days after a year of work. China’s minimum rises to 10 days after 10 years and 15 after 20; the Philippines’ five days of service incentive leave come with exemptions. Thailand follows with six days, and Singapore and Hong Kong start at seven and increase with service. These starting entitlements should not be compared with another country’s maximum seniority allowance.

For how the US compares with other wealthy countries, see the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s No-Vacation Nation report: the US still guarantees workers zero paid vacation days.

Which countries have the most public holidays?

Among the 43 countries in this guide, the Philippines has the most public holidays in 2027: 20, of which 12 are regular holidays and 8 are special non-working days. Colombia follows with 18, then Chile with 17 (including an extra holiday on Friday, September 17) and Argentina, Japan and Peru with 16 each. At the other end, Switzerland has a single federal holiday (August 1) and India three national holidays, although cantons and states add their own. Mexico and the Netherlands have seven.

In most countries, public holidays come on top of vacation, but not everywhere: in the UK, bank holidays can count toward the 28 days of statutory leave. Check the country’s rule before adding the two together.

Planning your own time off around those holidays? Our guide to the best days to take off in 2027 shows which days to request in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

How do legal minimums compare with what companies give and employees take?

The law sets the floor. To see what happens above it, we looked at anonymized, aggregated leave data from companies using Vacation Tracker, from November 2024 to September 2026. The table covers the 20 countries where we have both figures: the yearly vacation allowance companies set and the vacation days employees actually took. Other countries are left out because fewer than 10 companies stand behind at least one of the two figures.

Working days by law come from the first table. Both averages are medians: days companies give is the median yearly vacation allowance companies set. Days employees take is the median number of vacation days each employee recorded over one full year (the 12 months to September 2026). All figures are anonymized and aggregated, with at least 10 companies behind each one.

In 13 of the 17 countries with a single legal figure, companies give more than the legal minimum, and in Australia, Portugal and Sweden they give exactly the minimum. The UK looks like the exception, with 25 days against 28, because the legal 28 days can include bank holidays. In all 20 countries, employees took fewer days than their companies give. In 12 of those 17 countries, recorded days were also below the legal minimum. That doesn’t prove people lose leave: days can be carried over, paid out, taken during company-wide closures or never recorded in Vacation Tracker.

How many vacation days do companies actually give?

Companies set a median yearly vacation allowance of 15 days across the dataset. US companies set 13.1 days despite there being no federal law requiring paid vacation. In Germany, the company median is 28 days, compared with a legal minimum of 20 working days for a five-day week.

The UK needs a different reading. Companies set a median of 25 vacation days, while the statutory 28 days can include bank holidays. Comparing those figures without checking how holidays are recorded would be misleading. You cannot infer a legal shortfall from the company median.

India’s company median is 15 days. Across company sizes, employers with 50 to 249 people set the highest median allowance, at 16.5 days. These figures describe configured allowances, not a recommended entitlement for every employee.

How many vacation days do employees actually take?

Sweden has the highest median recorded vacation usage in the report at 19.1 days per employee, followed by Portugal at 17.6, Serbia at 15.6 and the Netherlands at 15.3. At the lower end are Cyprus at 6.5, the Philippines at 7.5, the US at 8.8 and the UAE at 9.0.

Across the dataset, employees took a median of 11.2 vacation days a year. Separate medians cannot tell you how many days a particular employee left unused, or why.

Short breaks account for much of the activity: 44.8% of vacation requests are for one day, while 3.4% last 10 days or longer. Week 52 is busiest, followed by weeks 51 and 1, then week 32 in early August and week 27 in early July.

We’d use these patterns to plan coverage, then ask employees about their plans. A low recorded total alone is not evidence that someone cannot take leave.

How many public holidays do companies set up?

Sri Lanka has the highest median number of public holidays configured per location in the report, at 23. Colombia follows at 19, Japan at 18.5 and Thailand at 18. These are holidays companies set up per location, not a ranking of statutory national holiday entitlements. They include regional and company holidays, which is why they can differ from the national counts in the first table.

At the lower end, Saudi Arabia has four, India six, Mexico seven and the UK eight. The US median is 11 public holidays per location. When comparing public holidays by country, keep those calendar settings separate from vacation allowances and legal requirements.

How did we get these numbers?

The company figures come from anonymized, aggregated Vacation Tracker leave data covering November 2024 to September 2026, updated October 20, 2026. They are medians, with at least 10 companies behind every figure. Days taken counts the vacation days each employee recorded over one full year (the 12 months to September 2026), in companies where at least three people requested leave. The sample describes participating companies, not national populations. Legal minimums come from official government sources checked October 22, 2026, and public holiday counts from each government’s official 2027 calendar or law. Explore the Leave Trends report for the full dataset.

How do you manage vacation days and holidays across several countries?

Among companies with several locations, 88% run at least two holiday calendars and 63.2% assign different vacation allowances by location. Two locations differ by a median of eight public holidays; for two US locations, the median difference is two.

We’d start with a separate record for each office’s workweek, holiday calendar and annual vacation policy. A single company allowance will not explain why two colleagues with the same job have different days available.

Vacation Tracker lets you create a location for each country or office, with its own leave policies, workweek and reset date; you import that location’s public holidays in one click. For the policy decisions behind that setup, see how to manage employee leave across multiple countries. Employees can request leave and see who’s off in Microsoft Teams or Slack. The shared view gives managers a global holiday calendar alongside planned vacations.

This 3-minute walkthrough sets up a team in the US, Canada, the UK and France in Microsoft Teams.

If you’re choosing how to maintain those records, our annual leave planner guide compares approaches.

Managing vacation for a team in several countries? Try Vacation Tracker free for 14 days, no credit card required, or book a demo.

Sources

• European Union: Working Time Directive 2003/88/EC, Article 7

Official sources by jurisdiction, last reviewed October 22, 2026:

• Argentina: InfoLEG, Ley de Contrato de Trabajo 20.744.
• Australia: Fair Work Ombudsman.
• Austria: oesterreich.gv.at; sozialministerium.gv.at; usp.gv.at.
• Belgium: ONVA/RJV.
• Brazil: Planalto, Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho.
• Canada (federal): Justice Laws Website, Canada Labour Code Part III Division IV.
• Canada (Québec): LégisQuébec, Act respecting labour standards; cnesst.gouv.qc.ca.
• Chile: BCN LeyChile, Código del Trabajo; dt.gob.cl.
• China: Nanjing Municipal People’s Government.
• Colombia: Secretaría del Senado, Código Sustantivo del Trabajo.
• Cyprus: gov.cy.
• Denmark: Retsinformation, Ferieloven LBK nr 152 af 20/02/2024; retsinformation.dk.
• Egypt: Ministry of Labour.
• Estonia: Tööelu portal.
• Finland: Finlex.
• France: Code du travail numérique; service-public.gouv.fr; service-public.gouv.fr.
• Germany: Gesetze im Internet.
• Greece: Hellenic Labour Inspectorate.
• Hong Kong: Labour Department.
• India: Ministry of Labour and Employment.
• Ireland: Citizens Information; workplacerelations.ie; workplacerelations.ie.
• Israel: gov.il.
• Italy: Normattiva, D.Lgs. 8 aprile 2003 n. 66, art. 10.
• Japan: Japanese Law Translation.
• Mexico: Ley Federal del Trabajo.
• Netherlands: wetten.overheid.nl, Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7; government.nl.
• New Zealand: New Zealand Government.
• Norway: Lovdata, Ferieloven; arbeidstilsynet.no.
• Peru: Congreso de la República, D. Leg. 713; gob.pe; gob.pe.
• Philippines: DOLE.
• Poland: Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy.
• Portugal: Diário da República, Código do Trabalho art. 238.
• Saudi Arabia: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.
• Serbia: Pravno-informacioni sistem RS.
• Singapore: Ministry of Manpower.
• South Africa: Department of Employment and Labour.
• Spain: BOE, Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015.
• Sweden: Sveriges riksdag, Semesterlag.
• Switzerland: Fedlex, Obligationenrecht Art. 329a; seco.admin.ch.
• Thailand: Ministry of Labour.
• Ukraine: Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Zakonodavstvo Ukrainy.
• United Arab Emirates: UAE Government portal; u.ae.
• United Kingdom: GOV.UK, Holiday entitlement.
• United States: U.S. Department of Labor, Vacation Leave.

Company data: Vacation Tracker Leave Trends report (2026).

Lav Crnobrnja

The COO and co-founder of Vacation Tracker. He loves sharing his knowledge and passion for startups, business, and AI. When he’s not working, he can often be found experimenting with AI agents and exploring what the latest technology can do.