Forty-two per cent of Croatians could not afford a one-week annual holiday away from home last year, the Croatian Vecernji List daily said on Tuesday, citing data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The EU member countries with the lowest percentage of people unable to afford a one-week annual holiday were Luxembourg (7.6%,) and Sweden (10.2%). They were followed by Finland, the Netherlands, and Denmark, where 12% of people were in a similar situation.

On the other hand, the EU member states with the highest proportions of people who could only dream of a seven-day annual holiday away from home were Romania (62.5%), Bulgaria (48.8%), Greece (43.8%), and Croatia (41.7%).

They were followed by Hungary (41%), Italy (34.2%), Slovakia (33.8%), Poland (27.6%), the Czech Republic (18%), Slovenia (16.7%), and Austria (13.8%).

The EU average was 28.5%.

Eurostat published the data at the request of the Left party’s parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. According to government figures, 21.9% of Germans did not have enough money to pay for a week-long holiday away from home in 2022.

The leader of the group, Dietmar Bartsch, called the figures for Germany “a sad finding”. “Everyone should have the opportunity to go on holiday for at least one week a year. This requires higher wages, adequate pensions, a consistent anti-inflation policy and a poverty-proof basic child benefit in Germany,” Vecernji List quoted him as saying.