Most Cypriots cannot afford an annual holiday away from home

More than half of Cypriots cannot afford a one-week annual holiday away from home, according to Eurostat figures released on Wednesday.

The proportion is down from 52.3 per cent in 2017 to 51 per cent in 2018, but up from 2009 when 44.7 per cent of Cypriots could not afford the holiday.

It is estimated that 28.3 per cent of the EU population aged 16 or over could not afford a one-week annual holiday away from home in 2018. In 2013 the corresponding proportion was 39.5 per cent.

Among the 28 EU member states, the countries with the highest proportions of individuals in this situation were Romania (58.9 per cent), Croatia (51.3 per cent, provisional data), Greece (51 per cent) and Cyprus (51 per cent, provisional data).

In contrast, the EU member states with the lowest percentage of people unable to afford a one week annual holiday in 2018 were Luxembourg (10.9 per cent, 2017 data) and Sweden (9.7 per cent).

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.