Leap year: what it is and how to work it out
A leap year is a year of 366 days, in which February has 29 days instead of 28. The extra day keeps the calendar in step with the Earth's orbit around the Sun. Check any year below and learn the simple rule behind it.
Is 2026 a leap year?
No, 2026 is not a leap year: February 2026 has 28 days and the year has 365 days. The next leap year is 2028.
- Days in the year
- 365
- Days in February
- 28
- Next leap year
- 2028
How to work out a leap year
The rule is simple: a year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4. The exception is the century years (those divisible by 100), which are leap years only if they are also divisible by 400. That is why the year 2000 was a leap year (it is divisible by 400), while 1900 was not.
In practice, years like 2020, 2024 and 2028 are leap years, but the "in-between" century years such as 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not.
Examples: how to work out a leap year
- 2024: 2024 ÷ 4 = 506 with no remainder, and 2024 is not a century year. So it is a leap year, with 366 days and a 29 February.
- 1900: 1900 is divisible by 4, but also by 100 and not by 400. That is why 1900 was not a leap year and February 1900 had only 28 days. It is the exception people miss most often.
- 2000: 2000 is divisible by 4, by 100 and also by 400. So the exception to the exception applies: 2000 was a leap year.
- 2025: 2025 ÷ 4 = 506 remainder 1, so it does not divide evenly. 2025 is a common year of 365 days and February 2025 has 28 days.
The leap year rule applied to example years
| Year | ÷ 4 | ÷ 100 | ÷ 400 | Leap year | February |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | Yes | 29 |
| 2025 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | No | 28 |
| 2096 | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | Yes | 29 |
| 2100 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | No | 28 |
| 2104 | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | Yes | 29 |
| 2000 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Yes | 29 |
| 1900 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | No | 28 |
List of leap years
Here are the nearest leap years, past and future, to check at a glance:
- 2020
- 2024
- 2028
- 2032
- 2036
- 2040
- 2044
- 2048
Why leap years exist and what they are for
A solar year — one full orbit of the Earth around the Sun — does not last exactly 365 days, but about 365.2422 days. Without a correction, the calendar would drift almost six hours a year against the seasons; after a few centuries summer would fall in the calendar's winter. The added 29 February makes up that gap and keeps date and season aligned.
In everyday life the leap year matters most for date and age calculations: someone born on 29 February celebrates, in common years, on 28 February or 1 March. For deadlines, day counts and any payroll period that crosses a leap year, it pays to look closely too — that year has one extra day.
In computing the leap year is a well-known source of bugs: programs that don't handle 29 February properly get their sums wrong around that day. To be safe, it's worth checking important date calculations specifically on leap years — the tools on this page apply the rule automatically.
Frequently asked questions
- Is 2026 a leap year?
- No, 2026 is not a leap year. February 2026 has 28 days and the year has 365 days. The last leap year was 2024 and the next one is 2028.
- Why do leap years exist?
- The Earth takes about 365 days and 6 hours to orbit the Sun. Adding one day (29 February) every four years makes up for those extra hours and keeps the calendar in step with the seasons.
- How often is there a leap year?
- Usually every 4 years. The exception is the century years: 1900 and 2100, though divisible by 4, are not leap years because they are not divisible by 400.
- Why won't 2100 be a leap year?
- 2100 is divisible by 4 and by 100, but not by 400. Century years are leap years only when they are also divisible by 400, so 2100 will not be. The next century year that is a leap year is 2400.
- Was the year 2000 a leap year?
- Yes. 2000 is divisible by 400 and so was a leap year, unlike 1900. It is the classic example of the 400-year exception.
- When do people born on 29 February celebrate their birthday?
- On 29 February in leap years, and usually on 28 February or 1 March in common years. The weekday of any given 29 February appears in that year's February calendar.