Public holidays in Costa Rica, 2026
Costa Rica observes 11 nationwide public holidays in 2026. After weekends and those holidays are removed, the working year comes to 254 days.
Every public holiday in 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 1 Jan | Thursday | New Year's Day Año Nuevo |
Nationwide |
| Thu, 2 Apr | Thursday | Maundy Thursday Jueves Santo |
Nationwide |
| Fri, 3 Apr | Friday | Good Friday Viernes Santo |
Nationwide |
| Sat, 11 Apr | Saturday Weekend | Juan Santamaría Day Día de Juan Santamaría |
Nationwide |
| Fri, 1 May | Friday | Labour Day Día Internacional del Trabajo |
Nationwide |
| Sat, 25 Jul | Saturday Weekend | Annexation of the Party of Nicoya to Costa Rica Anexión del Partido de Nicoya a Costa Rica |
Nationwide |
| Sun, 2 Aug | Sunday Weekend | Feast of Our Lady of the Angels Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles |
Nationwide |
| Sat, 15 Aug | Saturday Weekend | Mother's Day Día de la Madre |
Nationwide |
| Tue, 15 Sep | Tuesday | Independence Day Día de la Independencia |
Nationwide |
| Tue, 1 Dec | Tuesday | Army Abolition Day Día de la Abolición del Ejército |
Nationwide |
| Fri, 25 Dec | Friday | Christmas Day Navidad |
Nationwide |
Working days month by month
| Month | Calendar days | Weekend | Holidays | Working days | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | 9 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| February | 28 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 160 |
| March | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| April | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| May | 31 | 10 | 1 | 20 | 160 |
| June | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| July | 31 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 184 |
| August | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| September | 30 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| October | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| November | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| December | 31 | 8 | 2 | 21 | 168 |
| Year | 365 | 104 | 7 | 254 | 2,032 |
Reading these figures
The working day count treats Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, which is the standard working week in Costa Rica. 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.
4 of this year's public holidays fall on a weekend and therefore add no time away from work: Juan Santamaría Day (11 Apr), Annexation of the Party of Nicoya to Costa Rica (25 Jul), Feast of Our Lady of the Angels (2 Aug), Mother's Day (15 Aug). 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 July at 23 days; the shortest is May at 20. That spread of 3 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 Q2, carrying 62 working days across April, May, June.
Compared with 2025, which held 251 working days, 2026 is 3 working days 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, Costa Rica'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 3 breaks of three consecutive non-working days or more. The longest runs 4 days, from 2 April 2026 to 5 April 2026, built around Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. A further 3 working days are 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.
2 of this year's holidays sit on a different calendar date than in 2025: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday. Dates that move cannot be carried forward from last year's planning spreadsheet, which is the most common way a holiday is missed.