A report published by Euronews as part of its #EuropeInMotion analytical project delves into the financial inaccessibility of holidays for a significant segment of the European Union's population. According to the latest Eurostat data, in 2025, nearly three out of ten EU citizens aged 16 and over—approximately 30%—were unable to afford a week of annual leave away from home.
This figure represents a 0.5 percentage point increase compared to 2024, signaling persistent economic pressure on households. However, the long-term outlook presents a more positive picture, with the proportion of those unable to afford a holiday having decreased by 7.7 percentage points over the past decade.
The geographic distribution of what is termed "holiday poverty" reveals a stark disparity across different regions within the European Union. Last year, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, and Hungary recorded the highest percentages of people unable to pay for a week-long trip. In contrast, Luxembourg, Sweden, and the Netherlands demonstrated the most favorable conditions, reporting the lowest shares of citizens facing such financial constraints.
Experts link this pervasive issue to a complex array of factors, including the escalating costs of housing, transport, and food, alongside a general reduction in the population's purchasing power.
Trade union representatives are vocally highlighting the broader social ramifications of this trend. Esther Lynch, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, stressed that taking holidays with family or friends is fundamentally crucial for an individual's physical and mental well-being. She asserted that after a year of strenuous work, people have a right to expect at least a brief respite.
Lynch lamented that holidays are increasingly becoming an exclusive privilege for a select few. She further described the prevailing situation as a "serious crisis of quality jobs" across Europe, attributing the inaccessibility of holidays to the proliferation of precarious employment and low wages. This scenario, she noted, deprives millions of workers of collective bargaining benefits and compels them to labor under unsafe conditions, even during extreme heatwaves.
