Public holidays in Cook Islands, 2026
Cook Islands observes 11 nationwide public holidays in 2026. After weekends and those holidays are removed, the working year comes to 252 days.
Every public holiday in 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 1 Jan | Thursday | New Year's Day | Nationwide |
| Fri, 2 Jan | Friday | New Year's Day | Nationwide |
| Fri, 3 Apr | Friday | Good Friday | Nationwide |
| Mon, 6 Apr | Monday | Easter Monday | Nationwide |
| Sat, 25 Apr | Saturday Weekend | Anzac Day | Nationwide |
| Mon, 1 Jun | Monday | King's Birthday | Nationwide |
| Fri, 3 Jul | Friday | Ra o te Ui Ariki | Nationwide |
| Tue, 4 Aug | Tuesday | Constitution Day | Nationwide |
| Mon, 26 Oct | Monday | Gospel Day | Nationwide |
| Fri, 25 Dec | Friday | Christmas Day | Nationwide |
| Sat, 26 Dec | Saturday Weekend | St. Stephen's Day Boxing Day |
Nationwide |
Working days month by month
| Month | Calendar days | Weekend | Holidays | Working days | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | 9 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| February | 28 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 160 |
| March | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| April | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| May | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| June | 30 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| July | 31 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 176 |
| August | 31 | 10 | 1 | 20 | 160 |
| September | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| October | 31 | 9 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| November | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| December | 31 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 176 |
| Year | 365 | 104 | 9 | 252 | 2,016 |
Reading these figures
The working day count treats Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, which is the standard working week in Cook Islands. Only nationwide holidays are deducted; a date observed in one region alone still counts as a working day here, because a national figure that moved with regional calendars would describe nobody accurately.
2 of this year's public holidays fall on a weekend and therefore add no time away from work: Anzac Day (25 Apr), St. Stephen's Day (26 Dec). Whether these are compensated with a substitute day depends on national rules rather than on the calendar, so confirm before planning around them.
The longest working month is March at 22 days; the shortest is August at 20. That spread of 2 days matters for anything billed or accrued monthly, which is why payroll and capacity plans that assume an even year drift by the end of it. The thinnest quarter is Q1, carrying 62 working days across January, February, March.
Compared with 2025, which held 251 working days, 2026 is 1 working day longer. Where a target is carried over from one year to the next unchanged, that difference is absorbed silently unless someone accounts for it.
Against the 204 countries covered here for 2026, Cook Islands's 11 nationwide holidays put it below the median of 12, around the 38th percentile. The range across all countries this year runs from 3 to 49.
The holidays produce 6 breaks of three consecutive non-working days or more. The longest runs 4 days, from 1 January 2026 to 4 January 2026, built around New Year's Day. A further 1 working day is stranded between a holiday and a weekend, where one day of leave buys a break of four days or more. The full breakdown is here.
5 of this year's holidays sit on a different calendar date than in 2025: New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, King's Birthday, Ra o te Ui Ariki. Dates that move cannot be carried forward from last year's planning spreadsheet, which is the most common way a holiday is missed.