Which country has more paid holidays and public holidays: Spain, the Netherlands or Belgium?

In today’s world, it is crucial that employees are given enough time to rest and recover. An overloaded and exhausted workforce is less productive, more frustrated and has less growth potential. That is why countries where rest and relaxation are guaranteed and well regulated, the mental health of employees is better and the entire economy is significantly better off. A study looked at countries worldwide, but we wonder whether there are more paid holidays, public holidays and days off in Spain, the Netherlands or Belgium?

According to a study by CVster.nl and Resume.io, most countries in the world have a standard of four weeks of paid vacation, or 20 working days or 30 calendar days per year. A total of 22 countries have this 30-day vacation scheme, while the overall average is 18.2 paid vacation days per year.

Remarkably, it is the countries in Africa and the Middle East that lead the way in terms of numbers paid days off. Iran is number one with the most official days off in the world: in total 53 days. The second place is occupied by San Marinoa small dwarf state in Southern Europe, with a total of 46 paid leave days per year.

At the bottom of the list we find the United States which has the lowest number of paid vacation days in the world 0 days. It is also the second worst country for total paid leave days, with just 10 days per year. Leave policies in the US are largely left up to employers themselves.

Spain, Netherlands or Belgium?

Scores in Europe itself Spain relatively well with 14 paid statutory holidays per year. This is considerably more than many other Western European countries. Some examples of Spanish holidays are New Year’s Day, Epiphany, Good Friday, Easter, Labor Day, National Holiday (October 12) and Christmas.

The Netherlands on the other hand, knows 9 paid statutory holidays per year, while that in Belgium per year 10 paid statutory holidays are. If we look at the most paid vacation days, we see this Spain is 36 days, in Belgium 30 days and in the Netherlands 29 paid vacation days. And then we can also look at the paid days off Spain with 22 days scores better than The Netherlands and Belgium both have 20 paid days of leave per year.