How many bank holidays does France get vs Europe and US?
See how France compares as MPs debate taking away two of the country’s jours fériés
France compares fairly well to the rest of Europe and the world when it comes to bank holidays
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The number of public holidays in France may soon change, after several proposals to cut how many are included on the French calendar.
French Prime Minister François Bayrou suggested abolishing two public holidays from 2026 onwards - Easter Monday and May 8 - as part of plans to save €44 billion in government spending.
The removal of the holidays would save over €4 billion according to the prime minister.
Last year, MPs there were calls whether to replace a public holiday with a working ‘day of solidarity’ or jour de solidarité similar to Whit Monday (sometimes called Pentecost), which could save up to €3 billion.
The suggestion came as part of discussions for the 2025 budget and although not passed, remained a talking point in the media.
What is a jour de solidarité?
A jour de solidarité is when workers may or may not get the day off work, depending on their role and their employer.
Een if they take the day off however, most workers will not get paid for that day, and will need to dip into their annual leave allocation to do so (or miss out on a day of salary).
The jour de solidarité on Whit Monday sees the money employers would normally pay to staff for a day of work instead passed onto the state to support a specific fund for elderly and disabled people.
The Whit Monday 'jour de solidarité' tradition dates back to 2004, the year after more than 15,000 elderly people died in a heatwave (with temperatures of up to 42C).
The resulting furore led to the first Whit Monday jour de solidarité.
How many public holidays does France have per year?
France has 11 public holidays throughout the year, including Whit Monday.
These are:
New Year's Day: January 1
Easter Monday - moveable date
Labour Day: May 1
Victory in 1945: May 8
Ascension Day: May 9
Pentecost or Whit Monday - moveable date, related to Easter
Bastille Day: July 14
Assumption Day: August 15
All Saints' Day: November 1
Armistice Day: November 11
Christmas: December 25
How does France’s public holiday total compare to other countries?
France’s bank holiday total comes in fairly middling in comparison to other European countries.
It has the same number of bank holidays as: Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Estonia, Sweden, Italy, and Hungary.
It has fewer than: Slovakia, Finland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta; Portugal, Romania; and Slovenia.
It has more than: Belgium, UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Ireland.
In the United States it is more confusing, as there are no 'national' holidays and paid days off are usually a matter for individual states.
There are 11 to 12 federal holidays in the calendar, depending on if it is an inauguration year. However, the government does not require private-sector employers to provide their employees with paid leave on them, meaning certain establishments may remain open.
At the same time, many businesses provide paid leave for non-holiday dates such as New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve in addition to certain public holidays.
The number of actual non-working days in Europe may vary depending on region (for example, Scotland and England sometimes have different days), as do different regions of Spain and Germany.
In France, areas in the east formerly controlled by Germany have two additional holidays, Easter Friday and St Stephen's Day (December 26)
Countries have varying rules for when days off are taken, which can affect the actual number of non-working days.
For example, France takes the days off on the specific date they fall on, even if this is already a non-working day (e.g. Saturday or Sunday). This means that the non-working day is effectively ‘lost’ (in terms of days off work).
In contrast, in the UK, bank holidays tend to be taken on the closest Monday to the actual date, meaning that there is always a non-working day, even if the actual date falls on a weekend.
Yet, France has some traditions that help maximise non-working days; for example, workers tend to ‘faire le pont’ (bridge the gap) if a non-working day falls close to a weekend. For example, if the day off is on a Thursday, many workers may take the Friday off as well, to give themselves a four-day weekend.
Days off plus bank holidays: France v Europe v Rest of World
France does particularly well when it comes to the total of paid holiday days typical for a normal job, when the bank holidays are added. (Of course, this may vary considerably depending on the job and the employer.)
Figures from Statista put France in second place, behind the UK, for the total number of days off plus bank holidays (as of 2016).
Europe
Rest of the world
France and Europe fare very well in comparison to many other non-European countries, particularly the US, which languishes at the bottom of the table.
