When is the next leap year?
The next leap year is 2028
February 29, 2028 is 518 days away (a Tuesday)
2028 will have 366 days instead of 365.
How leap years work
A year is 365 days, but Earth takes about 365.2422 days to orbit the sun. Adding February 29 now and then keeps the calendar in step with the seasons. The Gregorian rule:
- A year divisible by 4 is a leap year (2024, 2028)…
- …except century years, which are common years (1900, 2100)…
- …unless the century year is divisible by 400 (2000, 2400).
That gives 97 leap years every 400 years, an average year of 365.2425 days.
Leap years from 2016 to 2056
Check any year
Leap year pages
Frequently asked questions
Is 2026 a leap year?
No. 2026 has 365 days; the last leap year was 2024 and the next is 2028.
Why do we have leap years?
Because Earth's orbit takes about a quarter of a day longer than 365 days. Without an extra day roughly every four years, the calendar would drift against the seasons by about a day every four years — nearly a month per century.
Was 2000 a leap year?
Yes. Century years are usually common years, but those divisible by 400 keep their leap day — so 2000 was a leap year while 1900 wasn't, and 2100 won't be.