Most Romanians cannot afford a 7-day vacation once a year

Six out of 10 Romanians cannot afford a 7-day vacation a year, the highest percentage in the European Union.

The month of August is traditionally when Romanians take their vacations, and in Bucharest, both car and pedestrian traffic are noticeably reduced. The capital, however, is not representative of the whole country. A Eurostat statistic shows that 60% of Romanians do not go anywhere, not even for a one-week vacation. From this perspective, Romania ranks last in the EU, surpassing even Greece, where the percentage of those who cannot afford a yearly vacation is just below 50%.

In this respect, Romania is comparable to a country outside the EU, Turkey, where 60% of citizens also do not go anywhere. Even Serbia, though outside the EU, fares better than Romania, according to Eurostat data cited by Profit.ro.

Slightly over 40% of citizens do not afford a 7-day vacation in Croatia, Bulgaria, and Hungary, while Italy, Cyprus, and Portugal are just slightly below this threshold. Across the European Union, the percentage of those who cannot afford a vacation is less than 30%, with Poland, Ireland, and Germany hovering around this average level.

Czechs are also well off in terms of those who can afford an annual vacation. Less than 20% of citizens do not manage this, with only Slovenia performing better in Central and Eastern Europe. Denmark, where workers have many vacation days per year compared to the rest of the world, has only 10% of its citizens in a situation in which they could not afford a 7-day vacation. Netherlands, Austria, Luxembourg, and Finland are in a similarly enviable position.

The EU country that fares the best in this regard, with the percentage of those who cannot afford an annual vacation being less than 10%, is Sweden. Switzerland is at a comparable level, though it is outside the EU.

(Photo source: Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.com)