Public holidays for the next two years in UAE – all you need to know (2024-2025)

Dubai: On Monday, September 9, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) announced that Sunday, September 15 will be a holiday for workers in the private sector, on the occasion of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). On Saturday, the Federal Authority for Human Resources (FAHR) had also announced that September 15 will be a holiday for workers in the federal government.

If your weekend is usually on Sundays, you may be looking forward to the next public holiday, where you can get an extra day off. The good news is that there is still one long weekend that you can expect this year, based on the public holiday calendar announced by the UAE's Cabinet.

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In fact, earlier this year, the UAE’s official gazette announced the UAE Cabinet’s resolution No. 27 of 2024 concerning public holidays for both the public and private sectors in 2025. Coupled with the announcement last year for the public holidays for 2024, this announcement can give you an idea of how many days of public holidays you can expect till the end of next year.

Here are all the public holidays coming up in 2024 and 2025:

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UAE Union Day – December 2-3, 2024

The last long weekend for the year 2024 will be in December, with the Union Day holiday on December 2 (Monday) and December 3 (Tuesday). So, if you usually have a weekend on Saturday and Sunday, you can expect a four-day break.

Important Articles in the Cabinet decision

As per Article No. 2 on transferring public holidays, with the exception of Eid holidays, any of the official holidays mentioned in Article No.1 of the Cabinet resolution may be carried over by a Cabinet decision to the beginning or end of the week.
Article No. 3 stipulates that a public holiday may not be carried forward if it falls on another public holiday or a weekend.
As per article No. 4 on approval of other public holidays, local governments may approve any other official holidays not mentioned in this resolution for their government departments and institutions on special occasions or for any other reason.

- New Year holiday - January 1, 2025

The first day of next year falls on Wednesday, so you can expect a pleasant mid-week break to start the year.

- Eid Al Fitr 2025

As per the announcement, public and private sector workers will get a three-day holiday from Shawwal 1 to Shawwal 3, based on moonsighting.

If Ramadan is for 30 days, the 30th day will be an official holiday added to the Eid Al Fitr holidays.

The official dates will be confirmed closer to the events based on moonsighting for corresponding Islamic calendar dates.

- Arafat Day – one-day holiday

Workers will also get a one-day holiday on the ninth of Dhu Al Hijjah for Arafat Day. The exact date for the holiday will be announced after the sighting of the moon.

- Eid Al Adha 2025 – three-day holiday

The three days after Arafat Day - Dhu Al Hijjah 10, 11 and 12, will be a holiday to mark Eid Al Adha.

- Islamic New Year – one-day holiday

Workers will also get a holiday on the first day of Muharram to mark the Islamic New Year.

- Prophet Muhammad’s [PBUH] birthday – one-day holiday

Prophet Mohammed's [PBUH] birthday falls on the 12th day of the month of Rabi Al Awwal, on which residents can expect a one-day break. The exact date of the holiday will be declared only after an announcement by the moon-sighting committee.