More than half of Albanians cannot afford to spend one week on holiday away from home due to financial constraints.
According to Eurostat data, which refers to 2025 for Europe and 2023 for Albania, around 53% of households in Albania are unable to cover the cost of a one-week annual holiday. Albania ranks second only to Romania, where the figure exceeds 60%, followed by Turkey, North Macedonia, and Greece.
The data show that the inability to afford a holiday is particularly widespread in Southeastern Europe and in lower-income economies.
Albania also performs significantly worse than its regional neighbors. In Serbia, around 36% of households cannot afford a one-week holiday, while the figure stands at approximately 39% in both Bulgaria and Hungary. Italy records a rate of around 36%, while Portugal, Croatia, and Spain range between 32% and 33%.
The European Union average is approximately 27%—almost half of Albania’s level. This means Albanian households are nearly twice as likely as those across the EU to be unable to afford a one-week holiday.
The lowest rates are recorded in Switzerland and Norway, where fewer than 10% of households are unable to afford a one-week holiday.
Although holidays are not considered a basic necessity, the inability to finance them is widely used as an important indicator of living standards and material deprivation.
Eurostat’s indicator does not measure whether people actually went on holiday, but whether a household has the financial means to pay for one week away from home. The holiday can take place either within the country or abroad. Households that choose not to travel for personal reasons are not automatically considered materially deprived.
