Overview

• IMK researchers reviewed six cases of public holiday changes in Germany over the past 30 years and found no evidence that removing days off increases economic output.
• In over half of those cases, states that maintained or introduced holidays recorded stronger GDP growth than the national average.
• Saxony, the only state to retain Buß-und-Bettag, outperformed both the federal average and its neighbors that abolished the holiday.
• The study highlights that reduced rest time from fewer holidays may lower productivity and underscores the importance of innovation and demand factors in economic performance.
• Employer-aligned institutes estimate that abolishing a holiday could raise GDP by around 0.2 percentage points per day, but IMK’s empirical findings do not support those projections.