Summer is vacation season for many people in Europe, but taking a holiday away from home remains a privilege many simply cannot afford.
In 2025, nearly three in ten EU citizens aged 16 and older could not afford a week’s annual vacation away from home, according to the latest Eurostat figures presented by Euronews.
That share rose by 0.5 percentage points compared to 2024.
Still, compared to a decade ago, the figure has dropped significantly, down 7.7 percentage points.
Last year, the highest rates of people unable to afford a week’s annual vacation were recorded in Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, and Hungary.
Romania, Greece, and Bulgaria were also the EU countries with the highest rates of severe material and social deprivation among young people in 2025.
By contrast, the lowest rates of EU citizens unable to afford a week away from home were found in Luxembourg, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
“Vacation Poverty”
Some experts point to rising costs for accommodation, transportation, and food, combined with shrinking purchasing power and price gouging, as some of the drivers behind what’s being called “vacation poverty.”
Others stress how essential vacations are for people’s mental wellbeing.
Esther Lynch, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, told Europe in Motion that taking a vacation with family or friends matters for physical and mental health.
She added that after working hard all year, this should be the bare minimum workers can expect, yet each year it looks increasingly like a luxury reserved for the few.
She said the data point to a serious emergency in Europe when it comes to quality jobs.
Lynch explained that this is the direct result of governments and employers choosing jobs that lack security, pay poorly, and offer no union representation, leaving millions of people trapped in precarious work without the benefits of collective bargaining and exposed to dangerous conditions, including extreme heat.
She added that while politicians enjoy their summer holidays, workers are out fighting fires, working in fields and warehouses through record heat, with no guarantee they’ll be paid enough to take a vacation of their own.
Who Takes the Most Domestic Vacations
According to Eurostat, in 2024 seven in ten trips taken by European tourists were within their own country.
That year, the highest shares of domestic trips out of total trips among member states were recorded in Romania (90%), Spain (88%), and France, Portugal, and Greece (85% each).
By contrast, Luxembourg (78%), Belgium (62%), and Malta (48%) recorded the highest shares of trips abroad within the EU.
The average trip length for an EU resident traveling within the Union was four nights, while the average trip length outside the Union was eight nights.
