Edition 2026

Length of Paid Paternity Leave 2026

Name: Length of Paid Paternity Leave 2026
Creator: World Bank Group
License: https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/public-licenses

Published 2026 · describes 2025 · stored as published, never rewritten

This is how many calendar days of paid leave a country's law reserves for a father when his child is born, as recorded by the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law project every year since 1970. Leave for fathers is widely seen as the legal lever for sharing care between parents.

Length of Paid Paternity Leave 2026 covers 190 countries. Slovakia is highest, at 196; 74 countries share the lowest reading, 0. The middle country reads 3. Against the 2024 edition, 19 values changed (14 up, 5 down), the same countries are covered.

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Length of Paid Paternity Leave · Edition 2026

HighestSlovakia

196

Lowest74 countries share it

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

190countries
1measure
2025the year it describes
23distinct valueswhole numbers, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Length of Paid Paternity Leave 2026, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 190 countries · select a heading to sort

Length of Paid Paternity Leave 2026: every country, as published by World Bank Group.

Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	196
Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	180
Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	133
Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	42
Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	35
Austria`AUT`Western Europe	30
Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	30
Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	28
Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	28
Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	28
Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	28
Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	28
France`FRA`Western Europe	25
Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	21
South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	20
Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	18
Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	15
Ecuador`ECU`South America	15
Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	15
Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	15
Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	15
Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	15
Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	14
Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	14
China`CHN`Eastern Asia	14
Colombia`COL`South America	14
Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	14
Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	14
Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	14
Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	14
Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	14
Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	14
Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	14
Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	14
Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	14
Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	14
Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	14
Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	14
Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	14
Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	14
Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	14
Paraguay`PRY`South America	14
Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	14
San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	14
Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	14
Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	14
Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	14
South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	14
Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	14
Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	14
Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	14
United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	14
Uruguay`URY`South America	14
Venezuela`VEN`South America	14
Peru`PER`South America	10
South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	10
Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	9
Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	9
Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	9
Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	8
Suriname`SUR`South America	8
Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	7
Chile`CHL`South America	7
Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	7
Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	7
Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	7
Mexico`MEX`Central America	7
Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	7
Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	7
Oman`OMN`Western Asia	7
Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	7
Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	7
Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	7
Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	7
Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	7
Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	7
Brazil`BRA`South America	5
Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	5
Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	4
Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	4
Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	3
Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	3
Benin`BEN`Western Africa	3
Bolivia`BOL`South America	3
Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	3
Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	3
Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	3
DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	3
El Salvador`SLV`Central America	3
Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	3
Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	3
Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	3
Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	3
Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	3
Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	3
Mali`MLI`Western Africa	3
Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	3
Panama`PAN`Central America	3
Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	3
Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	3
Argentina`ARG`South America	2
Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	2
Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	2
Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	2
Guatemala`GTM`Central America	2
Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	2
North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	2
Togo`TGO`Western Africa	2
Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	1
Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	1
Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	1
Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	1
Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	1
Niger`NER`Western Africa	1
Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	1
Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	1
Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0
Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0
Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0
Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0
Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0
Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0
Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0
Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0
Belize`BLZ`Central America	0
Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0
Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0
Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0
Canada`CAN`Northern America	0
Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0
Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0
Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0
Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0
Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0
Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0
Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0
Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0
Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0
Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0
Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0
Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0
Guyana`GUY`South America	0
Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0
Honduras`HND`Central America	0
India`IND`Southern Asia	0
Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0
Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0
Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0
Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0
Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0
Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0
Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0
Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0
Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0
Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0
Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0
Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	0
Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	0
Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0
Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0
New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0
Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0
Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0
Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0
Palau`PLW`Micronesia	0
Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	0
Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0
Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	0
Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0
Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0
Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0
Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	0
Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0
São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0
Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0
Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0
Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0
Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0
Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0
Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0
Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0
Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0
United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0
United States`USA`Northern America	0
Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0
Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0
Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0
Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0
Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0

02In 2025

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

Lowest

Zimbabweshared0
Zambiashared0
Yemenshared0
Vanuatushared0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadinesshared0

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 3. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032024 → 2026

Since the 2024 edition

+0 / −0countries joined / left
19values changed, of 190 in both
14 · 5rose · fell
171unchanged

Rose most

Spain112 → 133+21
Mauritius7 → 28+21
Croatia14 → 28+14
Singapore14 → 28+14
Somalia0 → 14+14

Fell most

Afghanistan14 → 0−14
Myanmar21 → 15−6
Nepal21 → 15−6
Brazil7 → 5−2
Fiji1 → 0−1

Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do.

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

This edition describes 2025
World Bank Group names each edition for the year it is released; the figures in Length of Paid Paternity Leave 2026 are for 2025.
23 distinct values among 190
Values are stored exactly as published. 74 countries share 0. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 190 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
190 rows · 4.5 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download paternity-leave-2026-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
World Bank Group’s own file, on its own site.
2026-02-26-WBL-2026-1-0-Scores-Values_F.xlsx

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

World Bank Group (2026). Length of Paid Paternity Leave 2026 [data set], describing 2025. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/paternity-leave/2026

0655 held

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Length of Paid Paternity Leave 2024
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