How Many Working Days Are in a Year?
A standard year has 260 weekdays, or 261 in some leap years. Subtract eight bank holidays and typical annual leave and the number of days actually worked is around 2.
In short
A calendar year contains 260 or 261 weekdays depending on where the weekends fall. In England and Wales there are usually 8 bank holidays, leaving about 252 working days. Subtract a typical 25 days of annual leave and most full-time employees work roughly 227 days a year, which is about 62 percent of the calendar.
The answer is smaller than most people assume, and knowing it changes a few calculations that people routinely get wrong: what an hour of your time is worth, how much a project can fit into a quarter, and why a year of work feels shorter than a year.
Weekdays
A year has 365 days, or 366 in a leap year, which is 52 weeks plus one or two days. Fifty-two weeks contain 260 weekdays. The extra day or two adds one weekday if it falls on a Monday to Friday. So:
- Most years: 260 or 261 weekdays
- Leap years: 261 or 262
Bank holidays
England and Wales normally have 8: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, early May, spring, summer, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Scotland has 9 and Northern Ireland 10. Occasional additional holidays are declared for national events.
That leaves about 252 working days in a typical year in England and Wales.
Annual leave
The statutory minimum in the UK is 5.6 weeks, which for a five-day-a-week worker is 28 days including bank holidays. Many employers offer 25 days plus the bank holidays on top.
Subtracting 25 days from 252 gives about 227 days actually worked. That is 62 percent of the calendar year.
By month
Working days per month range from 20 to 23. February is short; a month with a bank holiday and an awkward start can drop to 20. The average is 21.7, which is the figure used in most salary and contractor calculations.
Why this matters
Hourly rate. Someone on 35,000 for a 37.5-hour week is often quoted as earning about 18 an hour, dividing by 1,950. Divide instead by the roughly 1,700 hours actually worked and the figure is closer to 20.50. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions.
Project planning. A quarter has 65 weekdays, or around 55 once bank holidays and average leave are removed. Planning to 65 is planning for a fortnight that does not exist.
Contractor day rates. A freelancer working 227 days a year at a given day rate is at the upper end of what is realistic. Most bill considerably fewer once gaps between projects and unbilled admin are counted, which is why day rates look high next to salaries.
The full-time year in one line
Roughly 260 weekdays, minus 8 bank holidays, minus 25 days of leave, equals about 227 working days, or 1,700 hours. Everything from hourly rates to sprint planning goes better when it starts from that number rather than from 365.
Common questions
How many working days are in a month?
Between 20 and 23, averaging just under 22. The exact figure depends on which day the month starts and whether a bank holiday falls in it. For salary calculations, an average of 21.7 working days a month is commonly used.
How many working hours are in a year?
For a 37.5-hour week over 52 weeks, 1,950 hours before leave. After 25 days of leave and 8 bank holidays, around 1,700 hours actually worked. This is the figure to divide a salary by for a true hourly rate.
Do Scotland and Northern Ireland have different bank holidays?
Yes. Scotland has 9, with different dates from England for some of them, and Northern Ireland has 10. The working-day count shifts by one or two accordingly.
Sources
Every factual claim above traces to one of these. Follow them rather than taking this article's word for it.
- UK bank holidays GOV.UK
- Holiday entitlement GOV.UK
- Calculate holiday entitlement GOV.UK
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