Ethiopian New Year, called Enkutatash, falls on September 11 in most years and September 12 every fourth year. This pattern will continue for decades to come, though the exact day of the week changes every year. Below is a full breakdown of the coming century, alongside a look at how Ethiopia’s calendar compares to other countries that also count their years differently from the Gregorian standard used across most of the world.
Ethiopian New Year dates, 2026 to 2050
This table covers the next 25 years so you can see the September 11 or 12 pattern clearly. The Ethiopian year listed is the one that begins on that date.
| Ethiopian Year Begins | Gregorian Date | Day of the Week |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | September 11, 2026 | Friday |
| 2020 | September 12, 2027 | Sunday |
| 2021 | September 11, 2028 | Monday |
| 2022 | September 11, 2029 | Tuesday |
| 2023 | September 11, 2030 | Wednesday |
| 2024 | September 12, 2031 | Friday |
| 2025 | September 11, 2032 | Saturday |
| 2026 | September 11, 2033 | Sunday |
| 2027 | September 11, 2034 | Monday |
| 2028 | September 12, 2035 | Wednesday |
| 2029 | September 11, 2036 | Thursday |
| 2030 | September 11, 2037 | Friday |
| 2031 | September 11, 2038 | Saturday |
| 2032 | September 12, 2039 | Monday |
| 2033 | September 11, 2040 | Tuesday |
| 2034 | September 11, 2041 | Wednesday |
| 2035 | September 11, 2042 | Thursday |
| 2036 | September 12, 2043 | Saturday |
| 2037 | September 11, 2044 | Sunday |
| 2038 | September 11, 2045 | Monday |
| 2039 | September 11, 2046 | Tuesday |
| 2040 | September 12, 2047 | Thursday |
| 2041 | September 11, 2048 | Friday |
| 2042 | September 11, 2049 | Saturday |
| 2043 | September 11, 2050 | Sunday |
The pattern is simple once you see it. Three years in a row fall on September 11, then the fourth falls on September 12. This repeats because of the Ethiopian calendar’s own leap year, which adds a sixth day to its short 13th month, Pagume, every four years, the same spacing the Gregorian calendar uses for February 29.
Full 100-year table
I’ve generated the complete list from Ethiopian year 2019 (starting September 2026) through Ethiopian year 2118 (starting September 2125), with the exact Gregorian date and day of the week for each. You can download it below.## An important note on long-range accuracy
The dates above follow the fixed four-year leap pattern that governs the Ethiopian calendar today. This holds reliably for the coming decades. There is one technical wrinkle worth flagging for full transparency.
The Ethiopian calendar’s leap year rule comes from the Julian calendar system, which adds a leap day every four years without exception. The Gregorian calendar, by contrast, skips the leap day in most century years (2100, 2200, and so on, unless the year divides evenly by 400). Because of this difference, the Julian-based and Gregorian-based systems slowly drift apart by about three days every four centuries.
This is the same reason the Orthodox Christmas, celebrated in early January on the Julian calendar, gradually moves further from December 25 on the Gregorian calendar over the centuries. The table above treats the pattern as fixed through 2125, which matches how Ethiopian date converters currently calculate it, but readers checking dates in the final years of this table, especially around and after 2100, should confirm with an updated converter closer to the time, since calendar authorities may account for this drift.
Why is Ethiopia’s year count different in the first place
Ethiopia’s year count sits seven to eight years behind the Gregorian calendar. This is not an error. It comes from a real disagreement among early Christian scholars over the date of the Annunciation, the moment marking the conception of Jesus. The Ethiopian and Coptic Orthodox Churches use the Alexandrian calculation, which places this event several years later than the calculation adopted in the West by the sixth-century monk Dionysius Exiguus, whose work forms the basis of the Gregorian count.
The gap shows as eight years for the first part of the Gregorian year and drops to seven years once the Ethiopian New Year begins in September, since the two calendars start their years on different dates.
Ethiopia is not alone: other countries with different year counts
Several countries and communities around the world officially use a year count that differs from the Gregorian calendar, each for its own historical reason. Seeing them side by side helps put Ethiopia’s case in context.
| Country or system | Calendar name | Gap from Gregorian year | Reason for the gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethiopia and Eritrea | Ethiopian calendar | 7 to 8 years behind | Different calculation of the Annunciation date, based on the Coptic tradition |
| Nepal | Bikram Sambat | About 56 to 57 years ahead | Counts from 57 BCE, the year King Vikramaditya is said to have begun a new era |
| Thailand, and used alongside other calendars in Myanmar, Cambodia, Sri Lanka | Buddhist Era | 543 years ahead | Counts from the traditional date of the Buddha’s death in 543 BCE |
| Iran and Afghanistan | Solar Hijri calendar | Roughly 621 to 622 years behind | Counts from the Hijra, the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, but uses a solar year like the Gregorian calendar |
| Saudi Arabia and other users of the Islamic calendar | Islamic Hijri calendar | Currently around 578 to 579 years behind, and the gap slowly shrinks over time | Also counts from the Hijra in 622 CE, but uses a shorter lunar year, so it gains on the Gregorian count over time rather than staying fixed |
A few things stand out when you compare these systems.
Nepal and Thailand are both ahead of the Gregorian year, while Ethiopia, Iran, and the Islamic calendar are all behind it. This shows that “behind” or “ahead” simply depends on which historical event a calendar system chose as its starting point, not on any calendar being more accurate than another.
Iran’s Solar Hijri calendar and Ethiopia’s calendar are actually similar in structure, since both are solar calendars with a fixed relationship to the seasons. The Islamic Hijri calendar is different in kind, since it is lunar, meaning its year is shorter than 365 days, so its gap with the Gregorian calendar shrinks by about one year every 33 years, unlike Ethiopia’s steady seven to eight year offset which does not change.
Thailand’s Buddhist calendar and the Gregorian calendar actually share the same month and day structure today. Only the year number is different, since Thailand simply adds 543 to whatever the Gregorian year is. Ethiopia’s system is more distinct, because it also uses different months, a different number of months, and a different New Year date, not just a different year number.
Something worth noting: Ethiopia’s calendar beyond its own borders
The Ethiopian calendar is not only observed within Ethiopia and Eritrea. Two groups outside East Africa follow it closely, for different reasons.
Rastafari communities around the world, including in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, and parts of Africa and Asia, follow the Ethiopian calendar as part of their religious and cultural identity, since Ethiopia holds a central spiritual place in Rastafari belief.
Coptic Christians in Egypt and in diaspora communities worldwide use a calendar almost identical in structure to Ethiopia’s, since both descend from the same ancient Alexandrian Christian calendar tradition, though Egypt does not use it as its official civil calendar the way Ethiopia does.
This matters for a simple reason: calendar differences are not unique quirks of one country. They are living reminders that many communities across Africa, Asia, and the wider world measure time using systems rooted in their own history and belief, alongside the Gregorian calendar used for international business and diplomacy.
Disclaimer
The dates in this article and the accompanying table are projections based on the Ethiopian calendar’s current fixed leap year pattern. They are accurate for the foreseeable future but may require adjustment in the later decades of the table due to differences between Julian-based and Gregorian-based century leap year rules, as explained above. Figures for other countries’ calendars reflect widely published conversions at the time of writing and should be verified against an official source for legal, religious, or administrative use.
References
- “Ethiopian New Year” – EBSCO Research Starters
- Ethiopian New Year 2026, 2027 and 2028 in Ethiopia – PublicHolidays.africa
- Ethiopian New Year around the world in 2026 – Office Holidays
- Bikram Samwat – Calendar Wiki
- Nepali New Year – Wikipedia
- Why Nepal Is 57 Years Ahead: The Science and History of the Bikram Sambat Calendar – Nepal Jyotish
- Thai Calendar 2026: What Year Is It in Thailand? (B.E. 2569) – Portail Asie
- Thai Solar Calendar – Wikipedia
- 2026 in various calendars – Wikipedia
