Hong Kong has 17 named General Holidays in 2026, as well as every Sunday. The longest run is from Good Friday on 3 April to Tuesday 7 April. Ching Ming Festival falls on Easter Sunday that year, so the substitution rules make both Monday and Tuesday General Holidays after the Easter weekend.
This is the General Holiday calendar used for ordinary Hong Kong working-day calculations. The Statutory Holiday list for employment purposes is different. The distinction matters whenever a contract, court rule or employment rule uses one of those terms.
The dates and explanations below were checked against official Hong Kong sources on 3 August 2026.
The 17 General Holidays in 2026
| Date | Day | Gazetted name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Thursday | The first day of January |
| 17 February | Tuesday | Lunar New Year's Day |
| 18 February | Wednesday | The second day of Lunar New Year |
| 19 February | Thursday | The third day of Lunar New Year |
| 3 April | Friday | Good Friday |
| 4 April | Saturday | The day following Good Friday |
| 6 April | Monday | The day following Ching Ming Festival |
| 7 April | Tuesday | The day following Easter Monday |
| 1 May | Friday | Labour Day |
| 25 May | Monday | The day following the Birthday of the Buddha |
| 19 June | Friday | Tuen Ng Festival |
| 1 July | Wednesday | Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day |
| 26 September | Saturday | The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival |
| 1 October | Thursday | National Day |
| 19 October | Monday | The day following Chung Yeung Festival |
| 25 December | Friday | Christmas Day |
| 26 December | Saturday | The first weekday after Christmas Day |
Every Sunday is also a General Holiday under the General Holidays Ordinance. There are no named General Holidays in March, August or November.
Why 3 to 7 April is a five-day break
The April dates follow the substitution rules in the Gazette. Good Friday is 3 April and the day following Good Friday is 4 April. Ching Ming Festival and Easter Sunday both fall on Sunday 5 April.
The day following Ching Ming Festival is therefore Monday 6 April, which is also Easter Monday. As 6 April is already a General Holiday, Tuesday 7 April is designated as the day following Easter Monday.
| Date | Why it is not a standard Monday-to-Friday working day |
|---|---|
| Friday 3 April | Good Friday |
| Saturday 4 April | Weekend and the day following Good Friday |
| Sunday 5 April | Sunday, Ching Ming Festival and Easter Sunday |
| Monday 6 April | The day following Ching Ming Festival |
| Tuesday 7 April | The day following Easter Monday |
The other Sunday substitutions are more straightforward. The Birthday of the Buddha falls on Sunday 24 May, so Monday 25 May is a General Holiday. Chung Yeung Festival falls on Sunday 18 October, so Monday 19 October is a General Holiday.
General Holidays and Statutory Holidays serve different purposes
General Holidays come from the General Holidays Ordinance. They are the holidays kept by banks, educational establishments, public offices and government departments, subject to the Ordinance. The annual list above has 17 named dates and every Sunday.
Statutory Holidays are employment entitlements under the Employment Ordinance. There are 15 statutory holidays in 2026. The statutory list includes Easter Monday from 2026, but Good Friday and the day following Good Friday are added later:
| From | Statutory holiday added | Total statutory holidays |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Easter Monday | 15 |
| 2028 | Good Friday | 16 |
| 2030 | The day following Good Friday | 17 |
An employee's statutory holiday arrangements can also depend on rest days, alternative holidays and substituted holidays. The Labour Department's 2026 list, for example, gives Ching Ming Festival as Sunday 5 April and explains the requirement for a holiday where a statutory holiday falls on a rest day.
For that reason, a definition of "working day" should not be replaced with a General Holiday list or a Statutory Holiday list without reading the source. It may instead use business days, a court calendar or a contractual definition.
Example: five working days across the April holidays
Assume a document requires five working days after Wednesday 1 April 2026 and expressly excludes Saturdays, Sundays and General Holidays. Exclude the start date and include the fifth working day.
| Date | Count |
|---|---|
| Thursday 2 April | Working day 1 |
| 3 to 7 April | Excluded by the holiday and weekend sequence above |
| Wednesday 8 April | Working day 2 |
| Thursday 9 April | Working day 3 |
| Friday 10 April | Working day 4 |
| 11 to 12 April | Weekend |
| Monday 13 April | Working day 5 |
The result is Monday 13 April 2026. It follows the stated definition of a working day. A court rule, contract or statute may use a different definition or count the start date differently.
Open the five-working-day example in the calculator.
In this example, Good Friday and the two Monday and Tuesday holidays are excluded because they are General Holidays. Saturday and Sunday are excluded separately. A source that counts Saturdays, or uses only Statutory Holidays, could produce a different end date even when it begins from the same Wednesday.
How the calculator applies the calendar
For an ordinary Hong Kong working-day calculation, the calculator excludes all 17 gazetted dates, including Good Friday and the day following Good Friday, as well as Saturdays and Sundays. Its result lists the dates left out of the count, so they can be compared with the rule being applied.
The governing source must specify whether the period uses General Holidays, Statutory Holidays, a separate business-day definition or a private office closure. It must also establish whether the start date counts and whether a result on a closed day moves. The calculator applies the settings entered for those points.
For examples of different counting methods, see Working Days vs Calendar Days in Hong Kong. The Lunar New Year shutdown guide explains why a private closure must be kept separate from the gazetted calendar. For leave planning based on this calendar, see Hong Kong Long Weekends in 2026.
Sources
Sources checked on 3 August 2026:
- GovHK: General Holidays for 2026, the complete annual list and substitution notes
- Hong Kong Gazette: General Holidays for 2026, the gazetted dates and April substitution sequence
- Hong Kong e-Legislation: General Holidays Ordinance, Schedule, the General Holiday list and Sunday substitutions
- Labour Department: Statutory Holidays for 2026, the 15 employment holidays and rest-day treatment
- Labour Department: Increase of Statutory Holidays, the additions scheduled for 2026, 2028 and 2030
