Public Holidays by Country & Region 2026

Ghana

15 public holidays

Ghana observes 13 regular statutory public holidays under Act 601 (as amended by Act 1142 in 2025). The Ministry of the Interior has gazetted official dates for 2026, including Eid-Ul-Adha on Wednesday May 27, 2026. Because Boxing Day (December 26) falls on a Saturday, the Ministry has declared Monday December 28 as an official observed public holiday under Section 3 of the Act. Natural three-day breaks fall on Independence Day (Friday March 6), Workers’ Day (Friday May 1), Founder’s Day (Monday Sept 21), and Farmers’ Day (Friday Dec 4), alongside the four-day Easter weekend.

Kenya

12 public holidays

Kenya has 12 public holidays in 2026 under the Public Holidays Act (Cap 110). No fixed-date holiday falls on a Sunday, so no Sunday-substitution is needed. The Islamic dates are fixed by Gazette notices after moon sighting.

Nigeria

13 public holidays

Nigeria has 13 public holidays in 2026. The Ministry of Interior declared Eid-ul-Fitr for Thursday 19 and Friday 20 March, Eid-ul-Adha for Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 May, and Eid-el-Maulud for Tuesday 25 August. No fixed-date holiday falls on a Sunday in 2026; the only weekend holiday is Boxing Day (Saturday 26 December), which has no substitute under the rules.

South Africa

14 public holidays

South Africa has 14 days off in 2026: the 12 holidays in the Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994, an observed Monday (Aug 10) because National Women's Day falls on a Sunday, and a one-off public holiday on Nov 4 for the local government elections.

China

7 public holidays

In 2026 mainland China has 7 statutory public holidays totalling 33 days off, balanced by 6 make-up workdays on weekends. The longest breaks are the 9-day Spring Festival in February and the 7-day National Day Golden Week in October.

Hong Kong

17 public holidays

Hong Kong has 17 general holidays in 2026 — the public holidays that banks, schools and government offices follow. Employees covered only by statutory holidays get 15, and from 2026 Easter Monday becomes a statutory holiday for the first time.

India

17 public holidays

India has 17 central gazetted holidays in 2026, fixed by DoPT O.M. F.No.12/2/2023-JCA dated 3 July 2025. Diwali falls on Sunday, November 8 and Independence Day on Saturday, August 15 — no substitute weekday is granted for either. Six holidays land on a Friday, and the late-March run from Ram Navami through Good Friday is the best stretch of the year for taking leave.

Indonesia

23 public holidays

Indonesia has 25 scheduled days off in 2026 — 17 national holidays plus 8 cuti bersama (collective leave) days set by the SKB joint ministerial decree. The headline: Nyepi and Idul Fitri align to create a 7-day national break, March 18–24. Cuti bersama is mandatory for civil servants but optional for private companies.

Japan

17 public holidays

Japan has 17 national holidays in 2026, one more than usual because Silver Week returns: a citizens’ holiday on Sep 22 bridges two holidays to create a 5-day September break. Golden Week and the May 6 substitute holiday round out the spring.

Macau

20 public holidays

Macau has 20 public holidays in 2026, of which 10 are "obligatory" (mandatory) holidays that every employee is legally entitled to under the Labour Relations Law. The calendar uniquely blends Chinese festivals with Catholic feast days inherited from the Portuguese era.

Malaysia

14 public holidays

Malaysia’s 2026 federal (nationwide) public holidays span the country’s major Muslim, Chinese, Hindu and Christian festivals, plus the King’s Birthday, Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day. Holidays that fall on a state rest day roll over to a replacement weekday. Each state also gazettes extra local holidays.

Philippines

20 public holidays

The Philippines has two kinds of national days off in 2026: 12 regular holidays and 8 special (non-working) days. The difference matters for pay — regular holidays are paid even if unworked, while special days follow a "no work, no pay" default.

Saudi Arabia

5 public holidays

Saudi Arabia again keeps just 4 public holiday occasions in 2026. Eid al-Fitr begins on Friday March 20 after a full 30-day Ramadan — the private and non-profit sectors start their break at the end of the workday on Wednesday Mar 18. Arafat Day (Tue May 26) and Eid al-Adha (May 27–29) form the other big block, and Founding Day (Feb 22) plus National Day (Sep 23) are fixed dates. As always, weekends are Friday–Saturday and there is no substitute-day rule.

Singapore

10 public holidays

Singapore has 11 gazetted public holidays in 2026, with three falling on a Sunday — Vesak Day, National Day and Deepavali — so the following Mondays (Jun 1, Aug 10 and Nov 9) become public holidays. Combined with holidays on Fridays, that gives Singapore six long weekends, most needing no annual leave.

South Korea

14 public holidays

South Korea has 18 public holiday days in 2026. Two days join the calendar for the first time: Labour Day (May 1) and the reinstated Constitution Day (Jul 17). The substitute-holiday system adds four days off (Mar 2, May 25, Aug 17, Oct 5), and Jun 3 is a public holiday for the nationwide local elections.

Taiwan

12 public holidays

Taiwan has 120 days off in 2026 with nine long weekends of three days or more. The longest is the 9-day Lunar New Year in February. Since 2025 Taiwan no longer schedules make-up Saturdays — holidays that fall on a weekend simply move to the nearest workday.

Thailand

18 public holidays

Thailand has around 19 public holidays in 2026, including a Jan 2 special bridge day for a 4-day New Year break, the 3-day Songkran festival (Apr 13–15) and the Buddhist holy days of Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha and Asarnha Bucha. Holidays on a weekend roll over to an in-lieu weekday.

United Arab Emirates

8 public holidays

The UAE has 8 public holiday periods in 2026, and nearly every one connects to a weekend. Ramadan runs the full 30 days, so Eid al-Fitr is officially observed Mar 19–22 with the holiday itself on Friday Mar 20. Arafat Day (Tue May 26) plus Eid al-Adha (May 27–29) merges with the weekend for a 6-day break, and National Day (Dec 2–3) lands right before the weekend — take Friday Dec 4 off to stretch it to five days. The Cabinet moved the Islamic New Year to Monday Jun 15, producing a 3-day weekend.

Vietnam

18 public holidays

Vietnam has 12 statutory public holiday days in 2026 across six key dates, including the newly added Vietnamese Cultural Day (Nov 24). The 9-day Tet break runs Feb 14–22. National Day gets an extended 5-day holiday (Aug 29–Sep 2) with a make-up workday on Aug 22. New Year's Day falls on Thursday with a 4-day break (Jan 1–4, make-up workday Jan 10).

Austria

13 public holidays

Austria’s federal holiday list has 13 entries in 2026 and, as in every year, the nine Bundesländer cannot add a regional one. Three dates are wasted on weekends — the Assumption (Sat 15 August), All Saints (Sun 1 November) and St Stephen’s Day (Sat 26 December) — because there is no substitute-day rule in Austrian law. The good news: New Year’s Day (Thursday) and Epiphany (Tuesday) sit only two working days apart, so Friday 2 January plus Monday 5 January turns the first week of 2026 into a six-day break.

Belgium

10 public holidays

Belgium observes 10 statutory public holidays in 2026 governed by the Public Holidays Act of 4 January 1974. Easter Monday (April 6), Labour Day (Friday May 1), Whit Monday (May 25), and Christmas Day (Friday December 25) all deliver natural three-day holiday weekends. Ascension Day (Thursday May 14) and Belgian National Day (Tuesday July 21) provide ideal four-day bridge weekends (faire le pont). Because Assumption (Saturday August 15) and All Saints’ Day (Sunday November 1) fall on weekends in 2026, employers must grant two paid replacement days.

Czech Republic

13 public holidays

Czechia keeps the same 13 statutory days off every year — Act No. 245/2000 Sb. fixes them permanently, so nothing has to be announced for 2026. What changes is only where they land. Gregorian Easter 2026 falls on April 5, putting Good Friday on Friday April 3 and Easter Monday on April 6, which combine into a four-day break. Eleven of the thirteen days fall Monday to Friday, Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day on Tuesday 17 November among them. Only two are swallowed by a weekend with no substitute: Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Sunday July 5) and the Second Day of Christmas (Saturday December 26).

France

11 public holidays

France has 11 public holidays in 2026. May is generous: Labour Day (Fri May 1) and Victory Day (Fri May 8) bookend two three-day breaks. Two holidays fall on weekends — Assumption (Sat Aug 15) and All Saints (Sun Nov 1) — with no substitute-day rule. Ascension (Thu May 14) still creates the classic four-day pont.

Germany

9 public holidays

Germany has 9 nationwide public holidays in 2026. Easter runs April 3–6 for a four-day break, but German Unity Day (Sat Oct 3) and Boxing Day (Sat Dec 26) fall on weekends — and with no substitute-day rule in Germany, both are simply lost.

Greece

13 public holidays

Greece keeps the same thirteen dates in 2026, and ten of them behave like real time off. Three do not: Pascha (April 12) is a Sunday, and the Dormition (August 15) and the Second Day of Christmas (December 26) both land on a Saturday — Greek law transfers nothing, so those three days disappear from the working year. The year’s movable feasts come early: Clean Monday falls on February 23 and Whit Monday on June 1, because Orthodox Pascha 2026 is April 12, only a week after the Gregorian date.

Ireland

10 public holidays

Ireland has 10 public holidays in 2026, six of them on a Monday. Saint Stephen's Day (Dec 26) falls on a Saturday — and there is no automatic Monday substitute, only a legal duty for your employer to give you a benefit within a month.

Italy

13 public holidays

Italy marks 12 national public holidays in 2026, highlighted by the historic addition of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4) enacted by Law 151/2025. New Year’s Day and Labour Day (both Fridays) provide immediate three-day weekends, while Republic Day (Tuesday June 2) presents an ideal four-day bridge weekend opportunity (ponte).

Netherlands

11 public holidays

The Netherlands marks 11 official public holidays in 2026. King's Day (Koningsdag) on Monday April 27 creates a natural three-day weekend. Easter provides a four-day break (April 3–6), while Ascension Day (Thursday May 14) offers the traditional four-day bridge weekend. Liberation Day (May 5) is a standard working day under most private CAOs this year.

Norway

12 public holidays

Norway’s twelve statutory days off are set permanently by the Holiday Act of 1995 (§ 2) and the 1947 Act on 1. og 17. mai, and no year is negotiated anew. 2026 is a thin year: four of the twelve land on a weekend — Easter Sunday (April 5), Constitution Day (Sunday May 17), Pentecost (May 24) and the Second Day of Christmas (Saturday December 26) — and Norwegian law grants no substitute, so only eight add a weekday off. The one calendar oddity of 2026 is the national day itself: 17. mai falls on a Sunday, which will not happen again until 2037. Gregorian Easter is April 5, so the Easter block (Thursday April 2 to Monday April 6) is a five-day run with no leave needed.

Portugal

13 public holidays

Portugal has 13 mandatory national public holidays in 2026 established by Article 234 of the Labour Code. Four dates fall on weekends without compensation: Easter Sunday (April 5), Freedom Day (Saturday April 25), Assumption (Saturday August 15), and All Saints’ Day (Sunday November 1). Under Portuguese labour law, there are no substitute weekdays when holidays fall on weekends. Fortunately, New Year’s Day (Jan 1) and Corpus Christi (June 4) land on Thursdays, and both December 1 and December 8 land on Tuesdays, setting up ideal four-day ponte bridge options.

Spain

10 public holidays

Spain marks 9 nationwide common public holidays in 2026 under the Directorate General of Labour’s resolution published in the Official State Gazette (BOE-A-2025-21667). Highlights of 2026 include Good Friday (April 3), Labour Day (Friday May 1), and National Day (Monday October 12) all generating immediate three-day holiday weekends. The marquee planning feature of 2026 is the December macro-puente: with Constitution Day (Sunday December 6) shifted to Monday December 7 and Immaculate Conception on Tuesday December 8, workers across Spain enjoy a spectacular four-day holiday weekend from Saturday to Tuesday.

Sweden

13 public holidays

Sweden keeps its 13 statutory red days (röda dagar) fixed by the Act on Public Holidays (Lag [1989:253]) — no yearly announcement needed. 2026 is a weaker year than it looks: six of the thirteen land on a Saturday or Sunday and, because Sweden has no substitute-day rule, they give no extra weekday off. That leaves seven weekday holidays. Two dates follow a "nearest Saturday" rule — Midsummer Day (Saturday June 20) and All Saints’ Day (Saturday October 31).

United Kingdom

8 public holidays

England and Wales have 8 bank holidays in 2026. Because Boxing Day (Dec 26) falls on a Saturday, a substitute bank holiday is taken on Monday Dec 28. Scotland and Northern Ireland follow a slightly different list.

Canada

10 public holidays

Canada has federal statutory holidays that apply nationwide to federally regulated workplaces, plus provincial holidays that vary. In 2026 there are 10 federal statutory holidays. Because Boxing Day (Dec 26) is a Saturday, its substitute day off moves to Monday Dec 28.

Mexico

7 public holidays

Mexico has seven LFT Article 74 statutory rest days in 2026. Labour Day (Fri May 1) and Christmas (Fri Dec 25) each anchor a three-day break. Three Monday holidays — Constitution Day, Benito Juárez and Revolution Day — add more puentes without any bridge decree.

United States

11 public holidays

The United States has 11 federal holidays in 2026. The headline change: Independence Day falls on Saturday, July 4, so for most federal employees it is observed on Friday, July 3. Every other holiday lands on a weekday, and Thanksgiving anchors a four-day break.

Argentina

16 public holidays

Argentina’s 2026 calendar is fixed by Decreto 164/2025, building on Ley 24.445 (which lists the holidays) and Ley 27.399 (which sets how the movable ones shift). There are 16 feriados nacionales — days every worker is legally entitled to — plus three non-mandatory días no laborables for tourism. Because most movable holidays land on a Monday, the year delivers a strong run of natural fin de semana largo, headlined by the four-day Carnival break (14–17 Feb) and a four-day Holy Week (2–5 Apr).

Brazil

13 public holidays

2026 is an exceptional year for days off in Brazil: Independence Day (Sep 7), Our Lady of Aparecida (Oct 12) and All Souls' Day (Nov 2) all fall on Monday, Black Awareness Day (Nov 20) on Friday, and Portaria MGI nº 11.460/2025 makes Mon Apr 20 and Fri Jun 5 official pontos bridging Tiradentes and Corpus Christi. Only Republic Proclamation Day (Nov 15) is lost to a weekend.

Colombia

19 public holidays

Colombia has 19 paid national holidays (festivos) in 2026, and every single one of them falls on a weekday: Ley 51 de 1983 — the Ley Emiliani — pulls ten festivals onto the Monday after them, so 2026 delivers twelve Monday breaks and no lost dates. The list grows from eighteen to nineteen this year, because Ley 2578 of 1 June 2026 makes 9 July, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, a national festivo, enjoyed on Monday 13 July. Two consecutive Mondays in July (13 and 20) plus Maundy Thursday and Good Friday ahead of Easter give the year its two standout runs.

Australia

7 public holidays

Seven public holidays are observed across every Australian state and territory in 2026. Boxing Day (Dec 26) falls on a Saturday, so a substitute public holiday is taken on Monday Dec 28. Anzac Day lands on a Saturday, with substitution varying by state.

New Zealand

11 public holidays

New Zealand has 11 national public holidays in 2026. Anzac Day (Apr 25) falls on a Saturday and is Mondayised to Monday Apr 27, and Boxing Day (Dec 26, Saturday) is Mondayised to Monday Dec 28. Matariki — the Māori New Year — is on Friday July 10.