Average PTO by Country: A Global Comparison

The Global PTO Landscape Is Wildly Unequal

A worker in Brazil is legally guaranteed 30 days of paid annual leave before a single public holiday is counted. A worker in the United States is guaranteed exactly zero.

That is not a typo, and it is not an edge case. It is the single widest gap in the developed world's approach to paid time off, and it sits at the heart of a global landscape where your passport matters more than your performance when it comes to rest.

Between those two extremes, every other country falls somewhere on a spectrum shaped by history, labor movements, and cultural norms. Scandinavian countries cluster near the top with 25 days as a statutory floor. Much of Asia starts workers at 7 to 10 days and scales upward with tenure. The European Union enforces a minimum of 20 days for all member states, then watches as most countries voluntarily exceed it.

Below, we have compiled data for 22 countries, cross-referenced statutory minimums with what workers actually receive, and mapped the regional patterns that explain the numbers.

How Does Every Country Rank for Paid Time Off?

The table below covers 22 countries and shows four key figures for each: the statutory minimum annual leave (what the law requires), the typical employer offering (what most full-time workers actually get), the number of public holidays, and the total typical days off when you combine everything.

All figures are for full-time employees. Where statutory entitlements scale with tenure, the "year one" figure is shown with a note. Public holiday counts reflect national-level holidays; some countries have additional regional or state holidays.

A few things jump out immediately. Brazil sits at the top with 42 total days, driven entirely by its world-leading 30-day statutory minimum. The Scandinavian countries cluster together in the mid-to-high 30s. And the United States sits at the bottom of every meaningful metric, the only wealthy nation where both annual leave and public holidays are entirely discretionary.

Key finding: The gap between the best and worst is not a few days. It is an entire month. A Brazilian worker gets roughly triple the guaranteed time off of an American worker, and nearly double what a first-year Singaporean employee receives.

What Is the Gap Between Statutory Minimums and What Workers Actually Get?

The statutory minimum is the legal floor. It is the number the government says every employer must provide. But in most countries, that floor tells only part of the story.

Some countries have generous laws but weak utilization -- workers are entitled to time off but cultural or organizational pressure keeps them at their desks. Other countries have modest statutory floors but a strong employer culture of exceeding them. And then there is the United States, which has no floor at all but where the average employer offering lands around 10 to 15 days.

The table below shows where the biggest gaps exist between what the law requires and what workers actually experience.

The pattern is clear. Countries where the law both mandates leave and penalizes non-use (France, Brazil, Germany) achieve near-perfect utilization. Countries where entitlement exists but cultural norms discourage use (Japan, South Korea) see large portions wasted. And countries with no mandate at all (the United States) end up at the bottom of both entitlement and utilization.

For a deeper analysis of why some countries use their leave and others do not, see our full breakdown in The Countries Where Workers Actually Use Their Leave.

What Regional Patterns Emerge Across Continents?

Europe: The Global Leader in Time Off

Europe dominates the top of every PTO ranking, and it is not close. The EU Working Time Directive sets a floor of 4 weeks (20 working days) for all member states, but nearly every country exceeds it. When public holidays are added, total guaranteed time off across Europe typically falls between 28 and 40 days.

The Scandinavian bloc -- Sweden, Norway, Denmark -- mandates 25 days of annual leave and layers 10 to 13 public holidays on top. France starts at 25 statutory days and adds RTT days that can push the total past 35. Germany's legal minimum is a modest 20 days, but employer practice is so consistently above that figure (25-30 days is standard) that the statutory number is almost irrelevant.

Spain deserves special mention. Its 22-day statutory minimum is not the highest in Europe, but its 14 public holidays are among the most of any country on this list, pushing total guaranteed days off to 36.

The United Kingdom is a slight outlier in that its 28-day statutory entitlement includes bank holidays, meaning the discretionary portion is 20 days. It is still generous by global standards, but the headline number can be misleading if you do not read the fine print. For a full breakdown of UK-specific entitlements, see our Leave Policy Cheat Sheet.

The Americas: A Tale of Two Extremes

The Americas present the starkest internal contrast of any region. Brazil sits at or near the top of the global ranking with 30 statutory days. Argentina, though not in our table, mandates a similar range. Canada falls in the middle with a 10-day federal minimum that provinces often supplement to 15 or more.

And then there is the United States. Zero statutory days. Zero mandatory public holidays. The average American worker receives about 10 to 15 days of PTO from their employer, but that figure masks enormous variation. Workers in professional, white-collar roles at large companies may receive 20 or more days. Workers in retail, hospitality, food service, and part-time roles may receive none at all.

The US is not just an outlier in the Americas. It is an outlier among all wealthy nations. No other OECD country leaves paid time off entirely to employer discretion.

Asia-Pacific: Wide Variation, Cultural Complexity

Asia-Pacific has the widest internal variation of any region. Australia and New Zealand anchor the high end with 20 statutory days each, plus robust public holiday schedules and cultural norms that encourage actual use.

At the other end, Singapore and Hong Kong start first-year workers at just 7 days, scaling to 14 over several years of tenure. The starting figure is among the lowest in the developed world, though generous public holiday schedules (11 for Singapore, 17 for Hong Kong) partially compensate.

Japan and South Korea occupy a middle ground that is more complex than the numbers suggest. Japan's statutory minimum starts at 10 days and scales to 20, with 16 public holidays providing one of the highest total packages in Asia. But utilization hovers around 55%, meaning the typical Japanese worker takes only about 11 days despite being entitled to far more. South Korea shows a similar pattern: 15 statutory days, scaling with tenure, but average usage of just 8.5 days.

India's entitlements are fragmented across state-level legislation. The typical figure is around 15 days of earned leave, but actual entitlements vary by state, sector, and contract type.

Africa and Middle East

South Africa mandates 15 working days plus 12 public holidays, placing it in the middle of the global distribution. The UAE mandates 30 days for workers with more than one year of service, rivaling Brazil, though its public holiday count is among the lowest globally.

Does More PTO Actually Lead to Happier Workers?

The short answer is: yes, with caveats.

Scandinavian countries consistently top global rankings for both PTO entitlement and worker satisfaction, appearing in the top 10 of virtually every well-being survey. They offer 25 days of statutory leave and have near-perfect utilization rates.

But the relationship between PTO and satisfaction is more nuanced than "more days equals happier people."

What the data suggests:

• Countries with higher PTO entitlements report lower rates of burnout and chronic stress.
• Utilization matters more than entitlement. Japan offers a reasonable package on paper but ranks poorly on worker satisfaction, largely because the days go unused. France offers a similar total package and ranks highly, because the days are actually taken.
• The threshold effect appears real. Moving from 0 to 15 days has a dramatic impact on satisfaction. Moving from 25 to 30 days has a much smaller marginal effect. The biggest gains come from ensuring workers have a meaningful baseline of rest.
• Cultural permission to disconnect matters as much as the days themselves. A worker who takes 20 days but checks email throughout every one of them gets less recovery benefit than a worker who takes 15 days and fully disconnects.

The takeaway is not simply "give everyone 30 days and satisfaction will follow." It is that a sufficient baseline of leave, combined with cultural norms that encourage its use and enable genuine disconnection, produces the best outcomes. Countries that get all three right -- France, the Nordics, the Netherlands -- consistently outperform those that get only one or two.

What Does This Mean for Your Bridge Planning?

If you have read this far, you are probably thinking one of two things: "My country is generous and I should make the most of it," or "My country gives me almost nothing and I need to squeeze every drop of value from what I have."

Either way, the strategy is the same: optimize what you have.

If you have 25-30 days: You have a large bridge budget. Connect public holidays and weekends into 9 or 10-day stretches without depleting your allocation. The challenge is not scarcity -- it is planning. Map your bridges early so you do not scramble to use days in December.

If you have 15-20 days: This is the sweet spot where bridge planning delivers the most value. Every well-placed PTO day can turn into 3 to 4 days off. Prioritize the highest-efficiency windows and save remaining days for one or two longer breaks.

If you have 10 or fewer days: Every day counts. A worker with 10 PTO days who uses bridge strategies can match the total time off of a worker with 15 days who books randomly. That is the power of understanding how holiday bridges work.

The math works the same regardless of country. A public holiday on a Thursday turns one PTO day (Friday) into a four-day weekend. These windows exist in every calendar, and workers who identify them early get better prices and smoother team scheduling.

The difference between a good year and a great year of time off is not how many days you have. It is how well you place them.

Try the free optimizer at leavewise.co