Mapped: How Many Paid Vacation Days Countries Require

Iran leads the ranking with 53 combined paid days. At the other end, Micronesia reports 9 days and the United States reports 10 days. The global average across the dataset is 30 days.

Middle East: Several countries in the Middle East are near the top. Yemen has 45 days, Bahrain 44, Kuwait 42, and Oman 39. In Iran's case, a large number of public holidays combines with its workweek structure to raise the total.

Europe: Most European countries cluster at or above the 30-day global average. Examples include Iceland at 40 days, Sweden, Portugal, and Slovakia at 35 days, and many other European states in the low- to mid-30s.

Asia: Several major Asian economies report totals below the global average. Japan is listed at 26 days, China at 16 days, India at 18 days, and South Korea at 30 days (at the average).

North America and Oceania: Canada reports 19 days, Australia 27 days, and the U.S. 10 days. Micronesia is the only listed country with fewer than the U.S., at 9 days.

The U.S. rank reflects legally mandated time off. U.S. federal law does not require private employers to provide paid vacation, so the legal minimum is low compared with other countries. In practice, employer-provided vacation is common: in 2025, 80% of private-sector workers had access to paid vacation, and among workers with one year at their job, 31% received between 10 and 14 vacation days.

This map and ranking compare legal entitlements only. They do not represent the distribution of vacation among workers, unpaid leave, the generosity of employer-provided packages beyond statutory minimums, or cultural and labor-market factors that affect how much people actually take.

• If you're comparing legal minimums across countries, use the combined figure but inspect the components (statutory leave vs public holidays) to see how totals are achieved.
• Expect European countries to be clustered around or above the 30-day average, while several large Asian economies are below it.

The dataset provides a clear, comparable look at legally mandated paid time off across 185 countries in 2025. Totals vary widely, with Iran at the top, the U.S. near the bottom, and a 30-day global average that helps frame regional differences.