EU Vacation Poverty Hits 29.0% in 2025 as Costs Outpace Household Budgets
Updated
Updated · tovima.com · Aug 7
EU Vacation Poverty Hits 29.0% in 2025 as Costs Outpace Household Budgets
3 articles · Updated · tovima.com · Aug 7
Summary
29.0% of EU residents aged 16 and over could not afford a one-week annual holiday away from home in 2025, up 0.5 percentage points from 2024.
Rising accommodation, transport and food costs, alongside weaker purchasing power and precarious low-paid work, were cited as key drivers of the increase.
Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary recorded the highest unaffordability rates, while Luxembourg, Sweden and the Netherlands had the lowest.
The 2025 figure is still 7.7 percentage points below a decade ago, even as unions argue holidays are becoming a luxury rather than a basic expectation for workers.
Travel patterns already show the strain: in 2024, 70% of trips by European tourists were domestic, with Romania at 90% and Spain at 88%.