A familiar situation: after paying for housing, groceries, utilities, and transport, there is too little left on the card to plan a trip to the sea. According to Eurostat data for 2025, a week-long vacation away from home could not be afforded by 29.1% of the population of Slovakia aged 16 and over — almost every third resident of the country. The average for the EU is 27.5%, so Slovakia looks slightly worse than the union overall.
For Ukrainians (Ukrainians) living here and often earning around the minimum or average salary, these figures are not abstract. These are the numbers that end conversations about vacations in many families: “maybe next year.”
How Slovakia looks compared to neighbors
Compared to other countries in the Visegrad Group (Visegrad Group), the picture varies. In Poland, 24.5% of people cannot afford a vacation, in the Czech Republic (Czech Republic) — only 19%. But in Hungary, the figure is much worse — 39.1%, the same as in Bulgaria.
The hardest situation is in Romania, where 61.4% of the population have no vacation, and Greece — 46.6%. The most comfortable feel the residents of Luxembourg (10.6%) and Sweden (12.4%).
There is also positive progress: ten years ago, in 2015, the share of Slovaks without a vacation was 7.7 percentage points higher. So in the long term, the situation is improving — just more slowly than in neighbors.
Why money is not enough
Analysts name two main reasons. The first is the sharp rise in domestic prices in recent years, which “ate up” the real incomes of households: salaries grew, but expenses for housing, food, and energy grew faster. The second is that salaries in Slovakia are still noticeably lower than in Western Europe. The difference in real purchasing power between Slovakia and the EU average is 15.3%. You can read more about income levels by professions in our salary review.
More recent data looks even less optimistic. A survey by NMS Market Research agency, conducted in April 2026, showed that a week-long vacation is already unaffordable for 41% of Slovaks. This same survey revealed a broader picture of financial stress:
47% of respondents felt their living standards worsened over the last year;
37% would have problems covering an unexpected expense of 300 euros;
22% barely cover basic needs — housing and food.
Gap inside the country
Slovakia is a very uneven country, and vacation statistics illustrate this well. In the Bratislava region, less than 15% of residents cannot afford a week-long trip. Meanwhile, in Prešovský kraj and Banskobystrický kraj, this figure exceeds 40% — almost three times the difference.
For those still choosing a city to live in, this is practical: the average salary in Bratislava is higher, but housing rent there is noticeably more expensive. In eastern regions, housing is cheaper, but incomes are lower — hence such statistics.
How much Slovaks spend on summer
A Home Credit study showed that 37% of Slovaks did not plan a vacation at all. Those who do go most often budget from 400 to 800 euros per person — a modest vacation within the country or neighboring Croatia, not distant seas.
Some people consciously refuse to travel: they prefer to save money as a financial cushion, especially amid rising hotel and fuel prices. As Forbes Slovakia writes, this is more forced caution than free choice.
If the budget is limited, Slovakia itself offers many options for cheap vacations — from Tatra mountain routes to thermal baths with day tickets for 15–25 euros. It’s not the sea, but recharging without harming the family budget is quite possible.
