Most Serbian Citizens Cannot Afford a Week’s Vacation

Novosadski štrand (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC)

Over one-half of Serbia’s citizens older than 16 cannot afford a vacation lasting only one week, the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) announced on July 31, adding that in the EU this is the case with less than one-third of the population, i.e. 28 percent.

Eurostat said that 56.9 percent of Serbia’s population, and 61 percent of the population in Turkey and North Macedonia, is not able of paying to rest one week away from home.

According to data for 2018, among EU member-states the greatest number of people in such a situation were in Romania (59 percent), followed by Greece, Croatia and Cyprus (51 percent).

On the other hand, the least number of people who could not afford even this short a vacation was in Luxembourg (11 percent, according to 2017 data) and Sweden (less than 10 percent).

In 2013 the share of such population in the EU was substantially higher – 39.5 percent.

Eurostat also said that in the past five years the biggest drop in the share of such people in the population total was registered in Bulgaria – by 36 percent to 30.5 percent in 2018, and in Poland – by 26 percent, to 35 percent.