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The best countries to live if you want more public holidays

Lucy Dean
Would you like more public holidays? Image: Getty
Would you like more public holidays? Image: Getty

There’s nothing like a public holiday to brighten up a month, but if you live in Australia, those are pretty short in supply.

In fact, as a country we only celebrate seven national public holidays - New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. While the Queen’s Birthday public holiday is celebrated in every state and territory, that’s set by each individual government so the date can vary.

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The same goes for Labour Day, which some states and territories don’t celebrate at all.

So if you’re looking to maximise your public holidays, you might need to go international.

Cambodia has the most public holidays in the world, celebrating 29 in 2019.

That’s followed by Sri Lanka which has 26 public holidays 9 in 2019.

Then it’s India, which recognises 21 public holidays, followed by Colombia, the Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago’s 18 days off.

China and Hong Kong have 17 public holidays, while 16 days are public holidays in Thailand, Turkey and Pakistan.

On the other end of the spectrum, Mexico has seven and the UK, Spain and Canada have eight.

The USA has 10.

I don’t want to move countries!

That’s fair. But moving to a different state or territory in Australia could garner you more public holidays. There are a few options.

Australian Capital Territory: 13

In the nation’s capital, 13 public holidays were recognised in 2019.

The usual suspects were there, in addition to a Saturday public holiday following Good Friday, Canberra Day on 11 March and Reconciliation Day on 27 May.

Victoria: 13

If you’d prefer full public holidays, Victoria is your best bet. Here, they celebrate the usual seven in addition to Easter Sunday and Easter Saturday, plus Labour Day and the Queen’s Birthday. They also score a public holiday for the AFL grand final and the Melbourne Cup.

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