Public holidays in New Caledonia, 2026
New Caledonia observes 13 nationwide public holidays in 2026. After weekends and those holidays are removed, the working year comes to 250 days.
Every public holiday in 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 1 Jan | Thursday | New Year's Day | Nationwide |
| Fri, 3 Apr | Friday | Good Friday | Nationwide |
| Fri, 1 May | Friday | Labour Day | Nationwide |
| Fri, 8 May | Friday | Victory Day | Nationwide |
| Thu, 14 May | Thursday | Ascension Day | Nationwide |
| Mon, 25 May | Monday | Whit Monday | Nationwide |
| Tue, 14 Jul | Tuesday | French National Day | Nationwide |
| Sat, 15 Aug | Saturday Weekend | Assumption Day | Nationwide |
| Thu, 24 Sep | Thursday | New Caledonia Day | Nationwide |
| Sun, 1 Nov | Sunday Weekend | All Saints' Day | Nationwide |
| Wed, 11 Nov | Wednesday | Armistice Day | Nationwide |
| Fri, 25 Dec | Friday | Christmas Day | Nationwide |
| Thu, 31 Dec | Thursday | New Year's Eve | 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 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| May | 31 | 10 | 4 | 17 | 136 |
| June | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| July | 31 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 176 |
| August | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| September | 30 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| October | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| November | 30 | 9 | 1 | 20 | 160 |
| December | 31 | 8 | 2 | 21 | 168 |
| Year | 365 | 104 | 11 | 250 | 2,000 |
Reading these figures
The working day count treats Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, which is the standard working week in New Caledonia. 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: Assumption Day (15 Aug), All Saints' Day (1 Nov). 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 May at 17. That spread of 5 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 60 working days across April, May, June.
Compared with 2025, which held 249 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, New Caledonia's 13 nationwide holidays put it above the median of 12, around the 64th percentile. The range across all countries this year runs from 3 to 49.
The holidays produce 5 breaks of three consecutive non-working days or more. The longest runs 3 days, from 3 April 2026 to 5 April 2026, built around Good Friday. A further 4 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.
3 of this year's holidays sit on a different calendar date than in 2025: Good Friday, Ascension Day, Whit Monday. Dates that move cannot be carried forward from last year's planning spreadsheet, which is the most common way a holiday is missed.