Public Holidays in Pakistan 2026: Full List and the 3 Still Left

Pakistan has three public holidays left in 2026: Allama Iqbal Day on Monday 9 November, Quaid-e-Azam Day and Christmas on Friday 25 December, and the Day after Christmas on Saturday 26 December, which is for Christians only. No moon-dependent holiday remains this year.

Those dates come from the Cabinet Division's circular of 19 January 2026, "Public and Optional Holidays for the Year 2026". It is the official list for federal offices. Four of its Muslim holidays later moved when the Cabinet Division notified the final dates after moon sighting.

We read the circular and every 2026 holiday notification on the Cabinet Division's public holidays page on 28 September 2026. They are scanned documents, so we read each page image.

Public holidays left in 2026, October to December

From October to the end of 2026, federal offices close on three dates: 9 November, 25 December and, for Christians, 26 December. All three are fixed calendar dates, so they will not move with the moon. Five optional holidays for minorities also fall in this period.

Iqbal Day on a Monday gives a three-day weekend to anyone on a five-day week. Christmas on a Friday does the same, and for Christian staff the Saturday is a holiday too. On a six-day week you get the single day.

No bank holiday is left either. The three in the circular, 1 January, 1 Ramazan and 1 July, have passed. Banks close on the public holidays above, as set out in bank timings in Pakistan 2026.

Full list of Pakistan's 2026 public holidays

The Cabinet Division circular lists 12 public holidays for 2026. Four Muslim holidays carried an asterisk, meaning the dates were anticipated and subject to the moon. Each of those four was later confirmed by a separate notification, and every one of them moved.

The asterisk rows are the ones marked subject to the appearance of the moon. The circular says separate notifications will be issued for them, and that is what happened.

Moon sighting changed four holiday dates

All four moon-dependent holidays moved from the circular's dates. Eid-ul-Fitr also shrank from three days to two. Each change came in its own Cabinet Division notification, signed by the Cabinet Secretary, a few days before the holiday.

1. Eid-ul-Fitr: notified on 15 March 2026 for Friday 20 and Saturday 21 March, for offices on five-day and six-day weeks. The circular had planned 21 to 23 March.
2. Eid-ul-Azha: notified on 20 May 2026 for 26, 27 and 28 May, Tuesday to Thursday. The circular had planned 27 to 29 May.
3. Ashura: notified on 22 June 2026 for 9 and 10 Muharram 1448, falling on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 June. The circular had planned 24 and 25 June.
4. Eid Milad-un-Nabi: notified on 21 August 2026 for Wednesday 26 August, 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1448. The circular had planned 25 August. We covered that change in the Eid Milad-un-Nabi holiday date.

The lesson for next year is simple. The January list is a plan for the Muslim holidays. The notification a few days before is the date that counts.

One more change was local. On 8 April 2026 the Cabinet Division closed the Pakistan Secretariat and all federal offices inside Islamabad Capital Territory on Thursday 9 April, with staff told to work from home. That applied to Islamabad only, not the country.

Optional holidays for 2026

Optional holidays are not days off for everyone. The circular lists 22 of them, mostly for minority festivals. A federal employee can take one only with the head of office's prior permission: one a year for Muslims and up to three for non-Muslims.

These optional holidays remain in 2026:

Diwali falls on Iqbal Day this year, so Hindu staff lose nothing by it. The circular also says minority staff "should not ordinarily be refused" an optional holiday of religious significance. Earlier optional days, such as Shab-e-Barat, Easter, Chehlum and Giyarvee Shareef on 23 September, have passed.

Exporters and export manufacturers are exempt from the holidays, the circular says, if they pay workers overtime on those days on top of normal wages.

Federal holidays and provincial holidays

The Cabinet Division list binds federal offices. Provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan issue their own holiday notifications. The circular and each later notification were copied to their Chief Secretaries, but a province can set its own dates or add its own days.

• Federal: the circular goes to federal ministries and divisions, the federal courts and the State Bank.
• Provincial: provincial offices and schools follow their own government's notification.
• Local: a district or capital administration can close offices for one day in one area, as Islamabad did on 9 April.

We tried the Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan S&GAD websites on 28 September 2026 and could not load them, so we list no provincial-only holiday here. For August, Punjab and Sindh notified the same Eid Milad date as the federal government, as recorded in Pakistan's August 2026 holidays. For a school or provincial office, check your own province's notice before planning around a date.

Common questions

How many public holidays are left in Pakistan in 2026?

Three: 9 November, 25 December and 26 December. The last is for Christians only.

Is 9 November 2026 a holiday in Pakistan?

Yes. Allama Iqbal Day, Monday 9 November, is a public holiday in the Cabinet Division's 2026 list.

Is 26 December a holiday for everyone?

No. The circular marks the Day after Christmas, Saturday 26 December, as a holiday for Christians only.

Will any 2026 holiday still change with the moon?

No. All four moon-dependent holidays have been notified. The three left are fixed calendar dates.

Are banks closed on Allama Iqbal Day?

Yes. Banks close on federal public holidays. No separate bank holiday is left in 2026.

Who decides public holidays in Pakistan?

The Cabinet Division issues the federal list and declares each Muslim holiday with the Prime Minister's approval. Provinces notify their own.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 28 September 2026. The list of public, bank and optional holidays, the moon-sighting asterisk, the optional holiday rules and the exporter exemption are read in the Cabinet Division circular F.No. 10-1/2025-Min-II of 19 January 2026, "Public and Optional Holidays for the Year 2026". The final Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Ashura and Eid Milad-un-Nabi dates are read in the Cabinet Division notifications of 15 March, 20 May, 22 June and 21 August 2026. The Islamabad closure on 9 April is from the notification of 8 April 2026. All are published on the Cabinet Division's public holidays page. The Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan S&GAD sites did not load for us, so no provincial-only holiday is stated.