Eurostat: More than half of Romanians cannot afford a one-week holiday per year

Almost a third (29%) of residents of EU Member States aged 16 or over were unable to afford paying for an annual one-week holiday away from home. Among EU Member States, Romania recorded the highest share of individuals in this situation, with the majority of Romanians (54%) being unable to afford a one-week annual holiday in 2019, according to data published on Monday by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat).

This share has gradually decreased since 2010, when 39% of Europeans could not afford to take a week holidaying away from their home. However, due to lockdowns and border closure implemented across the world in 2020 to slow down the rapid spread of the coronavirus, this downward trend is likely to halt in 2020.

Among EU Member States, Romania recorded the highest share of individuals in this situation, with the majority of Romanians (54%) being unable to afford a one-week annual holiday away from home in 2019, followed by Greeks, with 49%, Croatia (48%), Cyprus (45%) and Italy (44%).

In contrast, at the lower-end of the scale, only 10% of people in Sweden were unable to afford a one-week annual holiday, followed by Demark and Luxembourg (both 11%), Finland (12%), Germany and Austria (both 13%).

Compared with 2010, the percentage of people who were unable to afford a one-week holiday away from home each year declined across all Member States, with the exception of Italy and Greece where it increased 4 percentage points (pp) and 3 pp respectively.

The largest declines were recorded in Latvia (-35 pp), Malta (-30 pp), Bulgaria and Poland (both -27 pp) and Estonia (-26 pp).