There’s nothing quite like the public holidays – they’re a day off from work that don’t eat into your holiday time or sick days.
Here in Australia we like to think that getting ten days off a year makes us pretty lucky. But according to a new Wego.com chart, we come up pretty short compared to other international destinations.
So you know who to envy next time you’re slugging it out in the office, here is the list of countries that have the most public holidays.
Warning: continued reading may ignite a desire to fight for more public holidays, perhaps ones that celebrate the King’s and Prince George’s birthdays.
The lucky 11s
Take a day to celebrate Deepavali in Singapore. Image: Lee Yiu Tung/Shutterstock
Singapore, Italy, Denmark, France, the UAE, Morocco, Czech Republic and Luxemburg have one-up on Australia, with 11 public holidays a year.
It may not seem like much, but instead of spending the usual day working people in Singapore get a day to celebrate their nation on National Day and they take time to commemorate India’s ‘festival of lights’.
Over in Morocco, the entire destination stops to recognise their young ones on Youth Day while in Italy people get the day off to attend mass for Immaculate Conception Day.
The lucky 14s
Indonesians get a whole day to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Image: redstone/Shutterstock
Indonesia, Chile and Slovakia’s government keep their workers happy, with over a dozen public holidays in a year.
Indonesian citizens get time off for both Christian and Islamic religious days as well as a day for Chinese New Year. In Chile there’s an entire day acknowledging the army on Army Day, which falls a day after National Day.
Slovaki’s public holidays are made up of mostly religious days, however, the more unique day off is on 8 May the ‘Day of Victory over Fascism’ followed by ‘International Workers Day’ on 1 May.
The lucky 17s
Turkish people step out to celebrate Ataturk’s Youth and Sport’s Day. Image: EvrenKalinbacak/Shutterstock
Over in Thailand, Turkey and Pakistan their hard workers receive over two weeks worth of public holidays, with 16 days off a year.
Public holidays in Pakistan are mostly religious holidays such as the birth of the Islamic prophet Muhammed and the day of martyrdom of Ali. However, the country does take a day to commemorate the passing of Muhammad Iqbal – a poet said to have inspired the Pakistan Movement. There’s also a public holiday called Kashmir Solidarity Day – a protest against Indian occupation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Over in Turkey they commemorate national liberation on Ataturk’s Youth and Sports Day and in Thailand there’s days dedicated to the full moon.
The lucky 18s
Image: Angyalosi Beata/Shutterstock
Columbia and the Philippines have it pretty good, with around 18 public holidays – that’s just four days short of having an extra three weeks a year off work.
Christian holidays such as the immaculate conception and assumption of Mary make up the majority of Columbia’s public holidays. However, one of the biggest non-religious days off is the celebration of the country’s independence on the day of the ‘Battle of Boyaca’.
In the Philippines there’s a day to commemorate all the nation’s heroes throughout history on ‘National Heroes Day’ and there’s even a national day of mourning on ‘Rizal Day’ to remember the execution of national hero Jose Rizal.
Lucky #21
Oh how we wish were in this category.
Indians get a full three weeks off work to celebrate major religious days including Hindu, Islamic and Christian holidays. The country has three national days – Republic Day, which commemorates the adoption of the constitution, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti – the birth anniversary of major figure Mahatma Gandhi.
