One in two Cypriots over the age of 16 could not afford to spend a week away from home in 2018, according to a press release from the European Union's statistical office Eurostat.
According to the survey, it is estimated that 28,3% of the EU population over the age of 16 could not afford to spend a week away from home each year. In 2013 the corresponding percentage was 39,5%.
Among the 28 Member States, the countries with the highest percentage of people in this situation were Romania (58,9%), Croatia (51,3% preliminary data), Greece (51%) and Cyprus (51 % preliminary data). The corresponding percentage for Cyprus in 2017 was 52,3%, while it reached its peak in 2014 with 58,9%.
In contrast, the EU Member States with the lowest percentage of people who can not afford a week of annual vacation away from home in 2018 were Sweden (9,7%) and Luxembourg (10,9% according to 2017 data). ), Denmark (12,2% preliminary data) and Austria (12,4%).
During the last five years, the largest drop in the percentage that could not afford a one-week annual leave was in Bulgaria (from 66.3% in 2013 to 30,5% in 2018) and in Poland (from 60,6% in 2013 to 34,6% in 2018). Greece was the only EU member state in which the percentage increased during the same five-year period, from 49% in 2013 to 51,0% in 2018.
Source: KYPE