French top world list in terms of annual holiday time

ISTANBUL

A woman sunbathes by the waters edge at a closed private beach in Lido di Ostia near Rome on August 3, 2012. AFP photo

The French take the most amount of holiday time in the world, according to the results of a survey released yesterday by Expedia-Harris Interactive, daily Le Parisien has reported.

A quarter of French people have more than 30 days off per year; the European average is 28 days, while it is 15 in the rest of the world.

Sixty percent of the French declared that they have never canceled a vacation for professional reasons; at the other end of the scale, 72 percent of Taiwanese and 67 percent of South Koreans reported canceling holidays due to work.

Some 72 percent of French respondents also reported expecting to take as much holiday time this coming year as last year. The French spend most of their vacation on the beach, the survey showed.

Despite its citizens’ propensity for long holidays, the country’s finances remain fragile, with Moody’s credit rating agency recently downgrading France's rating from AAA to AA1.

The Economist raised concerns last week that President François Hollande's economic reforms were not ambitious enough, warning that financial markets could turn against France, thus jeopardizing the future of the euro.