No — today is not a public holiday in United Arab Emirates

How to tell if today is a public holiday in United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates standardised its private-sector and public-sector holiday calendars in 2022 by Cabinet Resolution 64 of 2022. The list runs to about fourteen days a year depending on the lunar Islamic calendar: Gregorian New Year's Day, Eid Al Fitr (three days), Arafat Day and Eid Al Adha (three days), Islamic New Year, Prophet Muhammad's birthday, Commemoration Day on 1 December, and National Day on 2 and 3 December. Eid dates are confirmed by the UAE's moon-sighting committee only days in advance, so employers cannot publish definitive calendars far ahead. The 2022 reform also shifted the official weekend to Saturday and Sunday with a half-day Friday for the public sector.

That structure is why a simple "is it a holiday today" answer for United Arab Emirates is more nuanced than a single yes or no. A date can be a public holiday at the national level, a regional one observed only in certain states or provinces, or a banking holiday that closes financial settlement without closing every employer. The status shown above reflects the nationally recognised public holiday list for United Arab Emirates; if you are in a specific region, check the full calendar for the local additions that do not appear on the national list.

Working days and the holiday calendar in United Arab Emirates

Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 sets a 48-hour standard private-sector week with Saturday and Sunday as the weekend since 2022. Public-sector employees work Monday to Thursday plus Friday morning. Before 2022 the weekend was Friday and Saturday across the economy, a change that aligned UAE working days with Western markets for finance and reduced settlement gaps with London and New York. Banking settlement runs on the Central Bank of the UAE's UAEFTS system, which observes the unified holiday list. The Dubai International Financial Centre and Abu Dhabi Global Market courts use their own Common Law procedural rules with English-style working day definitions.

Use the full calendar to see how the remaining holidays cluster across the year. Some months in United Arab Emirates carry several closures while others have none, and that uneven spacing is what catches out anyone planning around a uniform working month.

For cross-border planning, overlay the United Arab Emirates calendar with the calendars of the other countries your team works with. A week that looks completely open from your side can be a national holiday on theirs, and the clash only shows up when you compare the two side by side. The full holiday page links into a country-by-country comparison so you can spot the weeks where almost nobody is at their desk before you commit to a date.

Holiday dates are compiled from Nager.Date and the national sources listed above. Regional and substitute-day rules vary; for legal deadlines, confirm the observed date with the relevant official calendar for United Arab Emirates.