Public holidays in DR Congo, 2026
DR Congo observes 11 nationwide public holidays in 2026. After weekends and those holidays are removed, the working year comes to 255 days.
Every public holiday in 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 1 Jan | Thursday | New Year's Day | Nationwide |
| Sun, 4 Jan | Sunday Weekend | Martyrs Day | Nationwide |
| Fri, 16 Jan | Friday | Laurent-Désiré Kabila Assassination | Nationwide |
| Sat, 17 Jan | Saturday Weekend | Patrice Lumumba Assassination | Nationwide |
| Mon, 6 Apr | Monday | Kimbangu's Day | Nationwide |
| Fri, 1 May | Friday | Labour Day | Nationwide |
| Sun, 17 May | Sunday Weekend | Liberation Day | Nationwide |
| Tue, 30 Jun | Tuesday | Independence Day | Nationwide |
| Sat, 1 Aug | Saturday Weekend | Parents' Day | Nationwide |
| Sun, 2 Aug | Sunday Weekend | Congolese Genocide Day | Nationwide |
| Fri, 25 Dec | Friday | Christmas 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 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| May | 31 | 10 | 1 | 20 | 160 |
| June | 30 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| July | 31 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 184 |
| August | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| September | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| October | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| November | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| December | 31 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 176 |
| Year | 365 | 104 | 6 | 255 | 2,040 |
Reading these figures
The working day count treats Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, which is the standard working week in DR Congo. 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.
5 of this year's public holidays fall on a weekend and therefore add no time away from work: Martyrs Day (4 Jan), Patrice Lumumba Assassination (17 Jan), Liberation Day (17 May), Parents' Day (1 Aug), Congolese Genocide Day (2 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 Q1, carrying 62 working days across January, February, March.
Compared with 2025, which held 254 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, DR Congo'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 4 breaks of three consecutive non-working days or more. The longest runs 3 days, from 16 January 2026 to 18 January 2026, built around Laurent-Désiré Kabila Assassination and Patrice Lumumba Assassination. A further 2 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.