Leap Year or Not? Check a Year and View the Leap Year List
Check whether the current year or any other year is a leap year, find out when the next leap day (29 February) is and view a list of leap years.
Is 2026 a leap year?
The current year is 2026. It is not a leap year and has 365 days. February has 28 days this year. The next leap year is 2028.
- Year:
- 2026
- Leap year:
- No
- Days in the year:
- 365
- Days in February:
- 28
- Previous leap year:
- 2024
- Next leap year:
- 2028
When is the next leap year?
The next leap year is 2028. It will have 366 days, and February will contain the extra calendar day .
In a common year, 1 March follows directly after 28 February. In a leap year, 29 February falls between them, giving the year 366 days instead of 365.
For more information about the current calendar year, today's date, the day of the week and the current week number, see our Today in Germany page.
How can you check whether a year is a leap year?
Use our Leap Year Calculator to check any year and find out whether it is a leap year, how many days it contains and whether February has 28 or 29 days.
Leap year list
Which past and upcoming years are leap years? The table shows calendar years, the number of days in each year and the length of February. A leap year has 366 days, with 29 days in February.
| Year | Leap year? | Days in the year | Days in February |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2022 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2023 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2024 | Yes | 366 | 29 |
| 2025 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2026 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2027 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2028 | Yes | 366 | 29 |
| 2029 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2030 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2031 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2032 | Yes | 366 | 29 |
| 2033 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2034 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2035 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2036 | Yes | 366 | 29 |
| 2037 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2038 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2039 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2040 | Yes | 366 | 29 |
| 2041 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2042 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2043 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2044 | Yes | 366 | 29 |
| 2045 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2046 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2047 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2048 | Yes | 366 | 29 |
| 2049 | No | 365 | 28 |
| 2050 | No | 365 | 28 |
How are leap years determined in Germany?
Germany uses the Gregorian calendar, so leap years are determined using the standard 4-100-400 rule. The same calendar rule is used in many other countries around the world.
Germany's Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the national metrology institute responsible for matters including official time, also describes the Gregorian leap-year rule: years divisible by 4 are normally leap years; century years divisible by 100 are excluded unless they are also divisible by 400.
Germany does not have a separate law that creates its own formula for determining leap years. The 4-100-400 rule is part of the Gregorian calendar. German legislation does, however, take account of leap years where the exact number of calendar days matters for legal or financial calculations. In such rules, a common year has 365 days and a leap year has 366 days.
Rules for determining a leap year
Under the Gregorian calendar, a year is a leap year if its number is divisible by 4 without a remainder. Years divisible by 100 are normally not leap years. The exception is a year that is divisible by 400, which is a leap year after all.
The 4-100-400 rule
- If a year is divisible by 400, it is a leap year.
- If it is not divisible by 400 but is divisible by 100, it is not a leap year.
- If it is not divisible by 100 but is divisible by 4, it is a leap year.
- In all other cases, it is a common year with 365 days.
For most modern dates, the simple “every four years” rule is a useful shortcut. The exceptions become particularly important for years ending in 00.
Frequently asked questions about leap years
Questions and answers
Why do we have leap years?
The calendar year needs to stay as close as possible to the natural yearly cycle of the seasons, which is slightly longer than 365 days. If every calendar year always contained exactly 365 days, calendar dates would gradually drift relative to the seasons. An extra day is therefore added periodically, giving a leap year 366 days instead of 365. Simply adding one day every four years is still not precise enough, which is why the Gregorian calendar includes additional exceptions for century years divisible by 100 and 400.
Is 2026 a leap year?
2026 is not a leap year. It has 365 days, and February has 28 days.
When is the next leap year?
The next leap year is 2028. It will have 366 days and include 29 February.
How do you work out whether a year is a leap year?
A year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4 without a remainder. Years divisible by 100 are an exception and are normally not leap years. If such a year is also divisible by 400, it is a leap year.
Is every fourth year a leap year?
Not always. The rule works for most years, but century years have an additional exception. For example, 2100 is divisible by 4 but will not be a leap year because it is divisible by 100 and not by 400.
Why was 2000 a leap year?
2000 is divisible by 400 without a remainder. It was therefore a leap year even though it is also a century year divisible by 100.
How many days are in a leap year?
A leap year has 366 days. The additional calendar day is 29 February.
How many days are in February in a leap year?
February has 29 days in a leap year. In a common year it has 28 days.
Why is there a 29 February?
The extra day helps the calendar year stay more closely aligned with the length of the tropical year, preventing calendar dates from gradually drifting relative to the seasons.
How many leap years are there in 400 years?
There are 97 leap years in a 400-year cycle of the Gregorian calendar.
Does Germany have a special law for leap years?
No. Germany does not have a separate law defining its own leap-year formula. The Gregorian calendar rule is used: divisibility by 4, with the additional exceptions for years divisible by 100 and 400.
What happens if someone is born on 29 February?
The person's date of birth remains 29 February. For the legal calculation of age in Germany, sections 187–188 of the German Civil Code (BGB) apply. The absence of 29 February in a common year does not mean that a person's age increases only once every four years.
Does a leap year always have 53 calendar weeks?
No. The number of calendar weeks and the existence of 29 February are determined by different rules. A leap year therefore does not automatically have an ISO week 53.
Notes and sources about leap years
- The European Commission's Eurostat methodology document on calendar effects describes the Gregorian leap-year rule: a year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4, except for years divisible by 100; years also divisible by 400 are leap years. The examples state that 1900 was not a leap year, 2000 was a leap year and 2100 will not be a leap year.
- The Gregorian calendar rules for determining leap years are also described by Germany's Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB): Der Gregorianische Kalender. Years divisible by 4 are leap years, while years divisible by 100 are excluded unless they are also divisible by 400.
- The international standard ISO 8601-1:2019 – “Date and time — Representations for information interchange — Part 1: Basic rules” – standardises the representation of calendar dates and time and is used here as an additional reference for calendar-data formats.
- For today's date, day of the year, current week number and other calendar information, see our Today in Germany page.
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Leap Years: Table and Rules