Russia at top for paid and public holidays : Hotels.com

Research released by Hotels.com reveals discrepancies in paid and public holiday entitlements across the globe. When looking at both statutory annual leave and public holiday allowances, Russia tops the table with 40 days holiday, whilst those living in Mexico came last with only 13 days in total.

Of the 30 nations surveyed, the hotel expert revealed the average annual leave and public entitlement to be 28 days. Italy and Sweden were both second to Russia with 36 days total holiday, eight more than the global average of 28. In contrast, Canada and Mexico both receive the lowest amount of holiday allowance, with workers only receiving 15 and 13 days respectively.

A plethora of annual bank holidays exist across the world, and Argentina tops the list with 19, which includes the popular 'Carnival' in Argentina between 11th and 12th February. Colombia follows suit with 18 days including 'Dia de San Jose' in Colombia on 19th March. In contrast, Brazil, Canada and India have the lowest number of public holidays with only five days each.

Alison Couper, from Hotels.com, said: "It's surprising to see the big global differences across the world when it comes to holiday allowance. There is a huge disparity with 27 days difference between Russia and Mexico, amounting to over five working weeks!"

Total global holiday entitlement for 2013: