Countries with the Most Public Holidays (2025 Ranked)

Cambodia has 28 official public holidays. The UK has 8. Both are sovereign countries with functioning economies — and the gap between them has almost nothing to do with productivity, income levels, or work ethic. Public holiday counts are driven primarily by one variable: the religious calendar. Countries with multi-religious populations recognising every tradition simultaneously, or with strong Buddhist and Hindu lunar calendars, stack up holidays that secular post-Christian Western nations simply do not observe. Understanding why the rankings look the way they do requires understanding what public holidays are actually for.

Key takeaways

• Cambodia has 28 official public holidays — the most of any country globally — reflecting Buddhist festivals, royal celebrations, and national commemorations.
• Sri Lanka has 25 public holidays, recognising festivals across Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity simultaneously, plus 12 monthly full-moon (Poya) days.
• India officially recognises 3 national holidays but allows states to declare up to 39 regional holidays — the most complex multi-tier system globally.
• The United States has just 11 federal public holidays — one of the lowest among wealthy nations — but the comparison with European countries is misleading without including statutory annual leave.
• Countries with more public holidays do not consistently show lower productivity — the relationship between holiday count and GDP per capita is weak across all income groups.

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How public holiday data is measured — and why comparisons are tricky

Public holiday — an officially gazetted day on which government offices and most formal employers close, and workers receive the day off with pay or a compensatory day. The definition sounds simple but creates significant complications for cross-country comparison.

Three distinctions distort the rankings:

Mandatory vs. optional holidays: Mexico has 7 mandatory federal public holidays under the Federal Labour Law — among the world's lowest. But it also has a list of "optional" holidays that many employers observe and that employees in practice receive. The mandatory count alone misrepresents Mexican workers' actual rest.

Federal vs. regional holidays: The US figure of 11 covers only federal employees and the federal government calendar. Private employers are not required by federal law to observe any of them. India's 3 national holidays are supplemented by up to 39 state-level holidays — a composite that varies from state to state. Germany's count (9–13) varies by federal state, with Bavaria's Catholic heritage adding feast days that Protestant northern states do not recognise.

Public holidays vs. total rest time: The most meaningful comparison includes both public holidays and statutory minimum annual paid leave. Germany has 9–13 public holidays plus a minimum 20 days of statutory annual leave — roughly 29–33 total guaranteed rest days. Cambodia has 28 public holidays but no universal statutory paid annual leave guarantee at the same level. On total rest days, the picture looks very different from the holiday ranking alone.

Source: Mercer (2024) — Worldwide Benefit and Employment Guidelines. Comparative public holiday and leave entitlement data across 60+ countries.

Source: International Labour Organisation (2023) — Working time regulations database. Statutory annual leave and public holiday entitlements by country.

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Countries with the most public holidays (2025)

Rank	Country	Public holidays	Notes
1	Cambodia	28	Buddhist calendar + royal events
2	Sri Lanka	25	Multi-religion recognition + Poya days
3	India	3 national + up to 39 state	Complex federal system
4	Myanmar	22	Buddhist + national days
5	Nepal	20	Hindu/Buddhist calendar
6	Thailand	19	Royal + Buddhist + national
7	Bangladesh	18	Islamic + national
8	Pakistan	18	Islamic calendar
9	Philippines	18	Catholic + national
10	Malaysia	17	Federal + state holidays
11	South Korea	17	Confucian + national
12	Iran	15	Islamic + national
13	Colombia	18	Catholic + national
16	Japan	16	National calendar
—	Germany	9–13	Varies by state
—	United States	11	Federal only
—	United Kingdom	8	England; Scotland 9
—	Mexico	7 national	Lowest mandatory in major economies

Source: Mercer Worldwide Benefit and Employment Guidelines (2024), ILO Working Time Regulations Database, national ministry announcements.

Where this data comes from

Public holiday counts derive from official government gazetted declarations — published lists with legal force binding government and formal employers to close. Mercer's annual Worldwide Benefit and Employment Guidelines provide the most systematic cross-country comparison. The challenge in counting is that some countries (India, Germany, Canada) have federal systems where the count varies by region; others (Mexico, US) distinguish between statutory/mandatory and de-facto observed holidays; and multi-faith countries (Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippines) may officially recognise holidays while de-facto observation varies. These data represent statutory entitlements and official gazettes, not actual hours worked or informal practice. Total guaranteed rest time — combining public holidays with statutory minimum annual paid leave — is a more meaningful comparison for workers' actual rest but is not reflected in the simple holiday count.

Cambodia — the most public holidays in the world

Cambodia's 28 public holidays represent approximately 11% of working days annually — more than two full working weeks. They are layered across three distinct calendar systems: Buddhist lunar, royal/national, and international/historical.

The Buddhist calendar accounts for the largest block, roughly 15 of the 28 days. Khmer New Year (three consecutive days in mid-April, following the lunar calendar) is the country's most significant festival — a time of family reunification, temple visits, and ceremonial water-pouring. Pchum Ben (Ancestors' Day) is three days, when Cambodians offer food at temples for deceased family members. Visak Bochea (Buddha's Birthday) and Meak Bochea (a celebration of the last sermon before Buddha's death) each claim a day. The Buddhist days follow the lunar calendar, meaning their Gregorian calendar dates shift annually.

Royal occasions reflect Cambodia's constitutional monarchy. King Norodom Sihamoni's birthday is a national public holiday, as is his coronation anniversary. The birthday of Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk is also observed. These reflect the monarchy's genuine centrality to Cambodian national identity — the royal family carries symbolic weight that makes a head-of-state birthday a meaningful collective occasion, not merely a formality.

Historical commemorations include Independence Day (November 9, marking independence from France in 1953), Paris Peace Agreement Day (October 23, 1991, marking the end of the civil war), and Victory over Genocide Day (January 7, commemorating the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979 — a date of particular emotional significance given the deaths of approximately 1.5–2 million Cambodians under Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979).

Economic and business implications: International businesses operating in Cambodia must plan around the Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben clusters, both of which effectively shut down commercial activity for multiple days. Factories and construction sites may see staff turnover spikes around major holidays as workers return to home provinces. The tourism sector largely benefits — Khmer New Year is Cambodia's largest domestic travel period.

Source: Royal Government of Cambodia — Official Public Holiday Gazette (2025). Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training announcements.

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Sri Lanka — multi-religious holiday recognition

Sri Lanka's 25 public holidays make it the world's second most holiday-generous country — and the mechanism producing them is distinctive.

The four-faith principle:

Sri Lanka officially recognises Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, and Christian holidays simultaneously. The country's population is approximately 70% Buddhist (Sinhalese), 12% Hindu (Tamil), 10% Muslim, and 7% Christian. Rather than selecting one tradition's calendar as primary, the government's holiday policy has historically recognised major festivals from all four traditions:

• Buddhist: Vesak (Buddha's birthday, the most celebrated holiday nationally), Poson, Esala
• Hindu: Thai Pongal, Deepavali
• Islamic: Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Prophet's Birthday, Milad un-Nabi
• Christian: Good Friday, Christmas Day

The Poya Day system:

Every full moon day is a public holiday in Sri Lanka — a unique national practice with no equivalent in any other country. There are 12 full moon days per year, each corresponding to a specific Buddhist observance month. Alcohol sales are prohibited island-wide on Poya days, and many businesses close. For companies with international operations or time-sensitive work, Poya days — which fall on different days of the week each month and shift annually on the Gregorian calendar — require active calendar management.

The political economy of religious holidays:

Sri Lanka's multi-faith holiday recognition has both genuine cultural logic and political logic. The country's most serious political failure — the 26-year civil war between the Sinhalese-majority government and Tamil minority (1983–2009), which killed an estimated 80,000–100,000 people — was rooted partly in ethnic and religious exclusion. The holiday system represents, in its way, a statement about recognition and equal standing of different communities. Whether it achieves that goal in practice is a more complex question.

Source: Government of Sri Lanka — Department of Government Printer, Public Holiday Act and annual gazette notifications.

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India — the world's most complex holiday system

India's approach to public holidays is a structural compromise between federal diversity and workable national governance.

Three tiers:

The central government mandates exactly three national holidays: Republic Day (January 26), Independence Day (August 15), and Gandhi Jayanti (October 2). These are the only holidays that apply uniformly to every government institution across the country.

Beyond these, the central government designates a list of national holidays (approximately 14) that central government offices observe, and a list of restricted holidays (approximately 25) from which employees choose a set number. States and union territories then declare their own state holidays ranging from 10 to 39 days.

Religious diversity at scale:

India has six officially recognised religions (Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism) plus significant regional traditions (tribal festivals, regional harvest festivals, linguistic community celebrations). A single national holiday calendar attempting to honour all of these would be operationally unworkable. The state-level system is a pragmatic solution: Jammu and Kashmir recognises Islamic holidays prominently; Tamil Nadu recognises Pongal, Thaipusam, and Deepavali at the state level; Punjab adds Sikh observances.

Variation across states:

Gujarat and Maharashtra observe numerous Jain holidays not recognised elsewhere. Kerala recognises Onam — the harvest festival — as its most significant state holiday. West Bengal adds Durga Puja days. The result is that a worker in Meghalaya and a worker in Kerala may share only the three national holidays — every other day of rest is different.

The informal economy caveat:

The formal holiday system applies primarily to government employees and workers in organised-sector formal employment. India's informal economy employs approximately 80–90% of workers. Street vendors, agricultural labourers, domestic workers, and gig workers typically have no guaranteed paid holidays regardless of what the official calendar says. The gap between statutory holiday entitlements and actual rest received is substantial.

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Europe and the United States — fewer holidays, more leave

The contrast between Asian holiday counts and Western European or North American ones is real — but misleading without accounting for statutory annual leave.

Germany (9–13 public holidays):

Germany's count varies by state. Bavaria has 13 days, including additional Catholic feast days (Epiphany, Corpus Christi, Assumption, All Saints' Day) not observed in Protestant-majority northern states. German workers are additionally entitled to a minimum of 20 days of statutory paid annual leave, with most collective agreements providing 25–30. A German worker with 10 public holidays and 28 days of leave has 38 guaranteed rest days — more than a Cambodian worker with 28 public holidays and fewer statutory leave guarantees.

United Kingdom (8 public holidays in England):

The UK has one of the lowest public holiday counts in the developed world. England and Wales observe 8 "bank holidays"; Scotland has 9 and Northern Ireland has 10. However, UK workers receive a statutory minimum of 28 days of paid annual leave including bank holidays — meaning total guaranteed rest is 28 days for most workers, regardless of the low headline holiday count.

United States (11 federal holidays):

The US figure is further complicated: federal public holidays apply to federal government employees. Private employers are not legally required to observe them or provide paid time off for them. The US has no federal mandate for any paid annual leave — meaning an employer could theoretically require staff to work on Christmas and provide zero paid days off in any year. In practice, most employers provide some combination of holidays and leave, but the guarantee is absent that exists in every other wealthy democracy.

This makes the US an outlier on total guaranteed rest time rather than just public holiday count. A US worker might receive fewer guaranteed rest days in any given year than a worker in any EU member state.

Source: US Department of Labor — Federal holidays list and private employer guidance.

Source: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) (2023) — Annual leave and public holiday entitlements comparative database.

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Why religious tradition dominates the rankings

The single clearest pattern in the global public holiday data is that Buddhist-majority and multi-religious South and Southeast Asian countries occupy every position in the top 10. This is not coincidental.

Buddhist lunar calendars generate numerous holidays because they mark a series of events in the Buddha's life and the monastic calendar — Buddha's birthday, his enlightenment, his first sermon, his death, the beginning and end of the Lenten retreat (Vassa), and multiple other occasions. When these fall in a predominantly Buddhist country with no single dominant secular tradition to displace them, they become public holidays.

Multi-religious recognition in countries like Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines stacks holidays from multiple traditions on top of each other. A country that honours Buddhist Vesak, Hindu Deepavali, Muslim Eid al-Fitr, and Christian Christmas is going to have more holidays than a country whose calendar reflects a single secularised Christian tradition (the UK) or a deliberately secular republican tradition (France, which removed many religious holidays from the national calendar after 1905).

Secular wealthy nations cluster at the bottom of the holiday count because their calendars reflect a post-religious transition: Christmas and Easter remain but are framed nationally as cultural rather than religious events; other Christian feast days have been removed or were never gazetted. The result is lean calendars of 8–13 days.

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Does holiday count affect productivity?

The intuitive hypothesis — more holidays mean less work means less output — is not well-supported by cross-country data.

Japan has 16 public holidays (more than the US) and is a high-productivity economy. South Korea has 17 and is among the world's most productive manufacturing and export economies. Cambodia and Sri Lanka have 25–28 holidays and are developing economies, but the causal direction runs the other way: their development status is not caused by their holiday count. Germany has more combined holidays and leave than Cambodia's 28 holiday-days alone, and significantly higher GDP per capita.

Research on the economics of working time suggests that the total hours worked is a weak predictor of economic output at the national level once quality of work, capital investment, and institutional quality are controlled for. The OECD's comparative analysis consistently finds that countries with shorter work hours (Netherlands, Germany, Denmark) achieve high output per hour worked — the "efficiency" argument for rest.

The more meaningful question is whether individual workers are more productive when they have adequate rest — and on this, the psychological and occupational health evidence is relatively clear: overwork beyond approximately 50 hours per week produces diminishing returns on output quality and increased error rates. Mandatory rest, whether from public holidays or annual leave, prevents the accumulated fatigue that reduces cognitive performance.

Source: OECD (2023) — Hours worked and GDP per hour worked, comparative data. OECD.Stat database.

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How the fewest-holiday countries compare

Mexico (7 mandatory):

Mexico's Federal Labour Law mandates only 7 public holidays — the lowest in any major economy. However, Mexican workers also receive paid annual leave (6 days in the first year, increasing with seniority) and many employers observe additional regional and religious holidays informally. The puente (bridge holiday) tradition — where workers informally extend a holiday across a long weekend — is a cultural institution that the official count does not capture.

Netherlands (8–9):

The Netherlands has 8 national public holidays (10 in some years when Ascension Day and Whit Monday fall within the calendar). Dutch workers receive a statutory minimum 20 days of annual leave, making total guaranteed rest approximately 28–29 days. The Netherlands's notoriously high part-time employment rate (particularly among women) further complicates any comparison of holiday policy with working patterns.

Canada (federally mandated: 10):

Canada has 10 federally mandated public holidays, but provincial governments add their own — Ontario has 9 additional provincial holidays; Quebec has its own calendar. The effective count for workers in different provinces varies significantly.

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Frequently asked questions

Q: Do more public holidays harm economic productivity? A: Not consistently. Japan (16 holidays) and South Korea (17) are among the world's most productive economies. The relationship between holiday count and GDP per capita across all countries is weak. What matters more is total working hours, working hour quality, and institutional factors like capital investment and education. Countries that rank high on public holidays and low on development are typically in that position for reasons entirely unrelated to their holiday calendar.

Q: Which country has the fewest public holidays? A: Mexico has just 7 mandatory public holidays under federal law — the lowest in any major economy. Among wealthy nations, the UK (England: 8) and the Netherlands (8–9) have the lowest counts. However, statutory annual leave requirements in European countries mean total guaranteed rest days are much higher than the holiday count suggests.

Q: Do public holidays apply equally to all workers? A: No. In most countries, public holidays apply reliably to government employees and workers in formal-sector employment covered by collective agreements or labour law. Informal workers — who represent the majority of the workforce in most developing countries — may receive neither paid holidays nor paid annual leave. The gap between official statutory entitlements and actual rest received is significant in countries with large informal economies.

Q: Why does the UK have so few bank holidays? A: The UK's low bank holiday count is partly historical: English law has never had a comprehensive public holiday statute. Bank holidays were formally established only in 1871 (Banking and Financial Dealings Act), and the list has grown slowly. The relatively low count is compensated by relatively generous statutory paid annual leave (28 days minimum including bank holidays). Scotland has one additional bank holiday (2 January, a New Year tradition); Northern Ireland observes both St. Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne.

Q: What is a Poya day? A: A Poya day is a public holiday in Sri Lanka that falls on every full moon, corresponding to a specific Buddhist observance in the lunar calendar. There are 12 Poya days per year, making them the single largest contributor to Sri Lanka's 25-holiday total. Alcohol sales are prohibited island-wide on Poya days — a policy with no equivalent in any other country's national holiday framework.

Q: Are public holidays good for mental health? A: The evidence on rest and mental health is generally positive: unstructured time away from work is associated with recovery from stress, restoration of cognitive resources, and maintenance of personal relationships that buffer against burnout. However, public holidays are imprecise instruments — they provide rest on a fixed schedule regardless of individual need, and workers in high-demand jobs often work through them. Paid annual leave, which workers can schedule flexibly, is generally considered a more effective mental health tool than fixed public holidays.

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Sources

Source: Mercer (2024) — Worldwide Benefit and Employment Guidelines. Comparative public holiday and leave data.

Source: International Labour Organisation (2023) — Working time regulations, statutory annual leave, and public holidays by country.

Source: OECD (2023) — Hours worked and GDP per hour worked. OECD.Stat database.

Source: Royal Government of Cambodia — Official Public Holiday Gazette (2025).

Source: Government of Sri Lanka — Department of Government Printer, Public Holiday Act gazette notifications.

Source: US Department of Labor — Federal holidays and private employer guidance.

Source: Eurofound (2023) — Annual leave and public holiday entitlements, EU comparative database.

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The takeaway

The number of public holidays a country grants reflects its religious calendar far more than any deliberate policy about work-life balance. Buddhist and multi-religious South and Southeast Asian countries dominate the top of the rankings for structural reasons that have nothing to do with productivity ideology. The assumption that more holidays reduce national prosperity is contradicted by the data: Japan (16 holidays) and South Korea (17) are economically productive; the UK (8) has a lower GDP per hour worked than Germany (9–13 plus generous statutory leave). Total rest time — combining public holidays with statutory annual leave — is a far more meaningful measure of work-life balance than holiday count alone, and on that combined metric, Western European workers generally fare as well or better than the world's top-ranked holiday countries.

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• Countries with the Most Working Hours
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