Holiday calendar
National public holidays by country and year.
How it works
Public holidays fall into two kinds. Fixed dates — Christmas Day, most national days — land on the same date every year. Movable ones are tied to a rule instead: Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox, calculated by the Gregorian computus, and Thanksgiving in the United States is simply the fourth Thursday in November.
Many countries also observe a holiday on a different day from the one it nominally falls on. When a fixed date lands on a weekend, the day off often moves to the following Monday. The observed date is the one that matters for a working-day calculation, and it is the one shown here.
Holiday lists are legislated locally and change. Treat this as a planning aid, not as a payroll authority — always confirm against an official national calendar before relying on it contractually.
Examples
Planning around a long weekend. Pick a country and year to see which fixed holidays land on a weekend and get an observed day on the following Monday.
A cross-border project. Compare two countries' lists side by side and the non-overlapping days become obvious — the ones where half the team is unexpectedly unavailable.
Feeding a working-day calculation. Take the dates from here into the business days calculator rather than assuming a standard set, since that tool deliberately ships with none.
Practical notes
Treat this as a planning aid rather than an authority. Holiday lists are set by legislation and change; regional and industry-specific days are not included; and observance can differ between the public sector, banks and private employers even within one country.
Where a fixed-date holiday falls on a weekend, many countries move the day off to the following Monday. The observed date is the one that matters for a working-day calculation, and it is the date shown here.
Religious observances that depend on lunar sighting — Eid among them — are deliberately absent, because their dates cannot be derived from a calendar rule and are confirmed locally only days ahead. Publishing a computed guess would be worse than omitting them.
Frequently asked questions
Are religious holidays included?
Only where they are fixed national holidays. Observances that depend on a lunar calendar or a moon sighting move each year and are deliberately left out rather than published approximately.
Can I rely on these dates for payroll?
Please confirm against an official government source first. The lists cover national holidays only and do not include state, provincial or company-specific days.
Why does a holiday show a different date from the one I expected?
You are probably looking at the observed date. When a fixed holiday falls on a weekend many countries shift the day off to the nearest weekday.
Are regional holidays included?
Only national ones. States, provinces and cantons frequently add their own, and those vary too much to list reliably.
Are these dates authoritative?
No. Treat them as a planning aid and confirm against an official national calendar before relying on them for payroll or contracts.
Why is Eid not listed?
Because its date depends on lunar sighting and is confirmed locally only days ahead. It cannot be derived from a calendar rule, and a computed guess would be worse than an omission.
What is an observed date?
When a fixed holiday falls at a weekend, many countries move the day off to the nearest weekday. That moved date is the one that matters for working-day counts.
Can I export the list?
Yes, the table can be copied or downloaded as CSV for use in a spreadsheet or a working-day calculation.
Why do some holidays move each year?
Because they are defined by a rule rather than a date. Easter follows the Gregorian computus, and holidays like Thanksgiving are the nth weekday of a month.
Which countries are included?
A set of widely used national calendars. Regional and state holidays are deliberately out of scope, since they vary too much to list reliably.
Are bank holidays the same as public holidays?
Not always. In the UK the term is a legal one about bank closures that has come to mean a general day off; elsewhere the categories differ, and not every public holiday closes every workplace.
Why do some countries have far more holidays than others?
Because the number is a policy choice shaped by history, religion and labour law. India recognises many regional and religious days; several European countries have around a dozen; and the totals are not comparable without knowing which are actually observed.
Do holidays affect delivery and banking?
Usually, though not uniformly. Banks, government offices, schools and private employers often observe different subsets, which is why an observed public holiday does not guarantee everything is closed.
What is the difference between a public and a national holiday?
A national holiday is observed across the whole country; a public holiday may be regional. Many countries have both, which is why a date can be a day off in one state and an ordinary working day in the next.