Australians work the longest hours in the developed world, new figures reveal.

The research by Tourism Australia shows 60 per cent of full-timers don’t use their annual  four weeks holiday and have eight weeks or more up their sleeve.

And when people do take time off, they’re opting for short, weekend escapes over the traditional month-long coast holiday, popular 20 years ago.

Corporate men aged between 35 and 49 represent the largest group with accrued leave — and half of them have children under the age of 12.

All this adds up to 121 million days of accrued annual leave, which equals a massive A$31 billion in holiday pay.

“You’ve got younger people who are driven to create a career and don’t take the leave they’re owed,” Tourism Australia’s managing director Geoff Buckley says.

He adds there are also some Australians who are saving their leave in case they find themselves without a job.

“That’s a big risk strategy for people with families or who are struggling to pay the mortgage. It’s almost like a forced savings,” he says.

The research forms part of Tourism Australia’s domestic marketing campaign, called
No Leave, No Life which
hopes to inject A$65 million
into the country’s economy.