How many days until Christmas?
A live countdown in your time zone. Bookmark it and check back any time.
– days to go
- Date
- –
- Weeks
- –
- Sleeps
- –
- Hours
- –
When is Christmas?
Christmas Day is 25 December every year. The countdown above updates live, down to the second, in your own time zone.
In many homes the countdown really starts with the first Sunday of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas, or with an Advent calendar on 1 December. Shops start much earlier: Christmas stock often appears in October.
Christmas around the world
In Australia and New Zealand, Christmas falls in early summer, so the day often means a beach, a barbecue or a backyard cricket match rather than snow. Cold seafood, pavlova and mango have become as traditional as roast turkey.
In much of Europe, including Germany and Poland, the main celebration happens on Christmas Eve, with presents opened that evening. Orthodox churches in countries such as Russia, Serbia and Ethiopia that follow the Julian calendar celebrate Christmas on 7 January.
Boxing Day on 26 December is a public holiday in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Canada, and has become one of the biggest shopping days of the year.
A countdown checklist
- 8 weeks out: plan your gift list and budget before the shops get busy.
- 6 weeks out: order anything coming from overseas.
- 4 weeks out: book restaurants and travel, and post overseas cards and parcels.
- 2 weeks out: check your postal service's last posting dates for local mail.
- 1 week out: plan the menu and do a big non-perishable shop.
Questions people ask
How many sleeps until Christmas?
The number of sleeps is the number of nights left before Christmas morning, shown in the sleeps box above. It updates automatically every day.
What day of the week is Christmas this year?
The date box above shows the weekday Christmas falls on this year.
When should I post Christmas cards?
Postal services publish last posting dates each year, usually in early to mid December for domestic mail and earlier for overseas.