Kuwait public holidays
Kuwait's official public holidays for calendar year 2026. The statutory list for private-sector workers is fixed by Article 68 of Private Sector Labour Law No. 6 of 2010 — Gregorian New Year, Hijri New Year, Isra and Miraj, Eid al-Fitr (3 days), Waqfat Arafat plus Eid al-Adha (4 days), the Prophet's Birthday, National Day and Liberation Day. The Hijri-dated holidays are movable and depend on official moon sighting; the exact public-sector dates and any bridging days are declared each year by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) following a Cabinet decision.
| Current value | 9 days held |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2026-01-01 |
| In force until | 2026-12-31 |
| Official source | Article 68, Private Sector Labour Law No. 6 of 2010 (statutory holiday list, published by the Public Authority for Manpower) read with the 2026 declarations of Kuwait's Civil Service Commission and Council of Ministers for each movable Hijri holiday (Isra and Miraj 18 Jan; Eid al-Fitr 19-23 Mar; Eid al-Adha and Arafat 26-31 May; Hijri New Year 16 Jun, per Cabinet decision of 10 Jun 2026) |
| Last verified | 2026-07-24 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
STATUTORY BASIS: Article 68 of Labour Law No. 6 of 2010 lists the fully paid official holidays as Hijri New Year (1 day), Isra and Miraj (1), Eid al-Fitr (3), Waqfat Arafat (1), Eid al-Adha (3), the Prophet's Birthday (1), National Day (1), Liberation Day (1) and Gregorian New Year (1); a worker required to work on one is owed double pay plus a compensating day off. National Day (25 February) and Liberation Day (26 February) are FIXED calendar dates — Liberation Day marks the end of the Iraqi occupation in 1991 — and in 2026 fell on Wednesday and Thursday, running into the Friday-Saturday weekend for a four-day break. 2026 DATES AS ACTUALLY DECLARED: (1) New Year's Day — the CSC declared a public-sector holiday on Thursday 1 Jan 2026. (2) Isra and Miraj — CSC declared Sunday 18 Jan 2026, work resuming Monday 19 Jan. (3) Eid al-Fitr — the CSC published two scenarios; the Shawwal crescent was NOT sighted on Wednesday 18 Mar, Ramadan 1447 completed 30 days, and Kuwait officially announced FRIDAY 20 MARCH 2026 as the first day of Eid. The public-sector holiday accordingly ran Thursday 19 Mar to Monday 23 Mar with work resuming Tuesday 24 Mar. (4) Eid al-Adha — the CSC suspended work in all ministries and public bodies from Tuesday 26 May to Sunday 31 May 2026, resuming Monday 1 June; 26 May was Waqfat Arafat (9 Dhu al-Hijjah) and 27 May the first day of Eid, with 30-31 May the ordinary weekend. (5) Hijri New Year — the Cabinet decided on 10 Jun 2026 between a 16 Jun and a 17-18 Jun scenario depending on the length of Dhu al-Hijjah 1447; the crescent decision on the evening of 15 Jun put 1 Muharram 1448 on TUESDAY 16 JUNE 2026, so that single day was the holiday and work resumed 17 Jun. (6) Prophet's Birthday — NOT YET DECLARED at confirmation (24 Jul 2026). 12 Rabi al-Awwal 1448 converts to 25 Aug 2026 on the standard Umm al-Qura-style reckoning; some calendars show 26 or 27 Aug. The date served is the calendrical conversion, NOT an official Kuwaiti declaration — re-confirm against the CSC announcement, expected in mid-August 2026, and expect a possible one- to two-day shift. TRAPS: the CSC declarations bind the PUBLIC sector; private-sector entitlement is the Article 68 day-count, so private-sector Eid breaks are typically shorter than the government spans shown above, and CSC bridging days (a working day sandwiched between two holidays) are a public-sector concession, not a statutory private-sector right. Kuwait has no Labour Day, Christmas or Ashura public holiday. ACCESS PROBLEM: the cited Public Authority for Manpower PDF refused TCP connections (ECONNREFUSED on 91.140.151.100) from this location, and KUNA, the official state news agency that carries CSC announcements, also refused connections (ECONNREFUSED on 62.215.225.132); the 2026 declarations were confirmed through Kuwaiti press reporting of the CSC and Cabinet decisions (Arab Times, Kuwait Times, Gulf News).
Get it programmatically
curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/kw/public-holidays
# Free.
# History: curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/kw/public-holidays/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://asiaref.dev/provenance/kw/public-holidaysOther Kuwait series: policy interest rate · VAT rate · minimum wage · inflation rate (CPI) · corporate tax rate · income tax rates