An overview of the countries with the longest public holidays shows that Norway comes in fourth place along with Finland, France and Brazil. Here, according to the legislation on national holidays, everyone is entitled to 35 days of vacation per year.

But we must see ourselves beaten by Sweden and Italy, who share second place in the ranking with 36 public holidays, while Russia tops the list with up to 40 public holidays per year.

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Western powers at their lowest

At the other end of the scale is Mexico, where citizens only get 13 days of vacation per year. What is perhaps most surprising is that two Western superpowers are found first and second to last on the list prepared by the hotel portal. Hotels.com.

In the United States, citizens have to make do with exactly half as many days off as the winner on the other side of the ocean, where citizens are only allowed 20 days off. While the citizens of Canada have to make do with a measly 15 public holidays per year.

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More free time increases work effort

But having a lot of free time is not necessarily something that goes beyond work effort, we will interpret the signals that have emerged through several studies carried out on the subject in recent years. Because contrary to what many might think, it is actually the countries with the most days off that can boast the best productivity.

Signals from a number of surveys show that employees who have the opportunity to take time off often seem to take advantage of the opportunity to recharge their batteries during their free time, which increases their work effort now that they are back to work.

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Individuals want a new arrangement

In the United States, which stands out relatively poorly in the recent overview, several companies have started to look to countries that offer better vacation conditions to their employees than they do themselves. Large private American companies like IBM and Netflix, for example, have rejected the standardized American leave model and have both implemented an open and unlimited leave program to try to prevent their employees from burning out on the job, writes the famous American economic magazine. Fast business.

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There are many things that may indicate that more people will follow their example.

If this is the case, they should look to countries with the best vacation conditions. Here is the list of ten countries with the best public holiday laws in the world (number of public holidays in parentheses):

1. Russia (40 days off)
2. Italy (36)
2. Sweden (36)
4. Norway (35)
4. Finland (35)
4. France (35)
4. Brazil (35)
8. Denmark (34)
8. Spain (34)
10. Colombia (33)