Christmas Day in Singapore 2026, 2027 & 2028

Christmas Day in Singapore falls on 25 December every year and is one of the country’s 11 gazetted public holidays. In 2026 it lands on a Friday, giving most employees a natural three-day weekend without any leave application. In 2027 it falls on a Saturday, which changes the off-in-lieu arithmetic. In 2028 it moves to a Monday. Below are the confirmed and projected dates, what they mean for your pay and leave, and answers to the questions people in Singapore actually search for around Christmas — from Boxing Day to whether the malls stay open.

Next occurrence. The next Christmas Day public holiday is Friday 25 December 2026, which gives a three-day weekend without touching annual leave. In 2027 it moves to Saturday 25 December, where the off-in-lieu rules apply instead.

Last updated 26 October 2026.

Christmas Day Dates for 2026, 2027 and 2028

25 December is a fixed date, so it does not move the way lunar or Islamic holidays do. The Ministry of Manpower confirms the day of the week each year as part of its official public holiday list; the 2028 listing is still an estimate based on the calendar until MOM publishes that year’s gazette.

For all other dates in one place, see our Singapore public holidays 2026 calendar, 2027 calendar and 2028 calendar.

Is Christmas Day a Public Holiday in Singapore?

Yes. Christmas Day is one of Singapore’s 11 gazetted public holidays under the Holidays Act, alongside days such as New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Vesak Day, National Day and Deepavali. Employees covered by the Employment Act are generally entitled to a paid public holiday on 25 December, subject to MOM’s usual eligibility rules on length of service and work pattern.

Singapore observes Christmas Day itself as the public holiday. 24 December (Christmas Eve) and 26 December (Boxing Day) are ordinary working days — more on that below.

Christmas Day 2027 Falls on a Saturday — Do You Get a Day in Lieu?

If you work a standard five-day week, Saturday is normally a non-working day for you. When a public holiday falls on that non-working Saturday, MOM’s rule is that an eligible employee should receive either another day off or one extra day’s salary in lieu, at the gross rate of pay. The replacement day does not have to be the following Monday unless your employer specifically arranges it that way.

This is a different situation from a public holiday falling on a Sunday. When that happens, the next working day automatically becomes a paid public holiday. A Saturday does not trigger that automatic shift, which is why Christmas 2027 needs employer confirmation rather than an assumption of a free Monday.

If you’re on a six-day work week, or your contract defines rest days differently, check your own arrangement rather than relying on the five-day-week rule above — your HR department or the MOM guide to public holidays can confirm the exact entitlement for your contract.

What If You Work on Christmas Day?

Retail, F&B, hospitality and healthcare workers are often needed on Christmas Day precisely because it’s one of the busiest trading days of the year. Your entitlement depends on whether 25 December is normally a working day, a non-working day or a rest day under your contract.

For an employee whose normal working day it is, being asked to work means the employer still owes the public holiday entitlement (a paid day off or the in-lieu pay described above) separate from your normal salary for that day, plus any applicable overtime for hours beyond your contracted limit. The exact calculation depends on your Employment Act coverage and salary structure — this page is general information, not a substitute for checking your payslip or asking HR directly.

Is Boxing Day (26 December) a Public Holiday in Singapore?

No. This trips up a lot of people who’ve lived in or follow the UK, Australia or New Zealand, where 26 December is a public holiday in its own right. Singapore does not observe Boxing Day. 26 December is a normal working day unless it happens to fall on a weekend by coincidence of the calendar.

Some retailers still run “Boxing Day”-style year-end sales as a marketing term borrowed from those markets, but it carries no public holiday status here.

Is Christmas Eve (24 December) a Public Holiday?

No, 24 December is not a gazetted public holiday. It’s an ordinary working day, though many private-sector employers voluntarily release staff early or grant a half-day as a goodwill gesture heading into the holiday. That’s entirely at the employer’s discretion and varies by company — it isn’t a statutory entitlement, so don’t assume it applies to your workplace.

Does Christmas Create a Long Weekend?

2026: Christmas falls on Friday, 25 December, which runs straight into the weekend for a three-day break (Friday to Sunday) with no leave application needed.

2027: Christmas falls on Saturday. Unless your employer grants a specific in-lieu day on the Friday before or the Monday after, there’s no automatic long weekend this year — confirm your company’s arrangement before booking anything.

2028: Christmas falls on Monday, 25 December, again giving a three-day weekend (Saturday to Monday) without needing to take leave.

Because Christmas sits right before the school year-end holidays, many families extend the break with annual leave across the last week of December. If you’re planning around this, also check our Singapore school holidays page so travel and childcare plans line up.

What Does Christmas Mean in Singapore?

Christmas in Singapore sits at the intersection of religious observance and a genuinely multicultural, commercial festive season. For the Christian community, it marks the birth of Jesus Christ, and churches across the island hold Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, including well-attended midnight services at churches such as St Andrew’s Cathedral.

Beyond the religious observance, Christmas is celebrated broadly across Singaporean society in the same way many countries here mark each community’s major festivals — with decorations, gift-giving, family meals and public celebrations that everyone joins regardless of faith. The clearest expression of this is the annual Orchard Road Christmas light-up, a decades-long tradition where the length of Orchard Road is strung with lights and installations from around November through early January, drawing both locals and tourists for evening walks, photos and shopping.

Who Celebrates Christmas in Singapore?

Christians make up roughly one in five Singapore residents, according to the 2020 Census, yet Christmas is celebrated far beyond the church. Together with Good Friday, it is one of two Christian festivals gazetted as public holidays, in line with Singapore’s approach of giving each major community its own festivals: Chinese New Year and Vesak Day, Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji, and Deepavali. For many non-Christian families, Christmas simply means a year-end get-together, a gift exchange at the office and a walk down Orchard Road.

How Is Christmas Observed in Singapore?

Families gather for meals, exchange gifts and, for churchgoers, attend Christmas services. Shopping malls and hotels compete each year on their decorations and light-ups, and December generally is the peak period for festive food promotions, from roast turkey sets to log cakes and mulled wine at hotel lobbies and restaurants.

December is also, not coincidentally, the year-end school holiday stretch, so Christmas week tends to be one of the busiest travel periods of the year both for Singaporeans heading overseas and for tourists arriving here. If you’re planning a staycation or dining out, book ahead — popular restaurants and hotels fill up well in advance of Christmas week.

Things to Do at Christmas in Singapore

Orchard Road’s light-up gets the headlines, but it is only one part of a Singapore Christmas. Gardens by the Bay usually turns the Flower Dome into a festive floral display, and the evening Supertree light show takes on a Christmas theme in December. Marina Bay Sands, Jewel Changi Airport and the big Orchard Road malls compete on giant trees and installations, and Sentosa runs its own year-end events, which suit families well because the school holidays have already started.

For a quieter, more traditional Christmas, visit one of Singapore’s historic churches. St Andrew’s Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd and the Armenian Church, which dates from the 1830s and is the oldest church in Singapore, all hold Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, and midnight Mass at the Catholic churches draws large crowds. Carolling groups also perform in malls and housing estates throughout December, and passers-by are welcome to join in.

Exact event dates and programmes change every year, so check the organisers’ websites before you go.

What Is the Weather Like at Christmas in Singapore?

Warm and often wet. December falls in the northeast monsoon season, so expect afternoon and evening showers, with temperatures of around 24°C to 31°C. Bring an umbrella rather than a jacket, and save outdoor light-up walks for the evening, when it is a little cooler.

Are Shops, Malls and Restaurants Open on Christmas Day?

Yes, for the most part. Christmas Day is actually one of the busiest retail days of the year in Singapore — malls, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and attractions generally stay open, often on their usual or slightly adjusted hours. It’s a public holiday for employees, not a closure day for businesses.

What does typically close: government offices, banks, schools and some smaller family-run shops. If you have a specific errand — a bank visit, a clinic appointment, a specific store — check that business’s own hours directly rather than assuming, since individual businesses set their own holiday schedules.

Does Public Transport Run on Christmas Day?

Yes. MRT trains and public buses operate as usual on Christmas Day, and given how busy Orchard Road and the shopping belt get in December, services in that area can be more crowded than normal in the evenings. Frequency, first and last train timings and any engineering works can still change, so check the latest notice from SBS Transit, SMRT or the LTA before you travel, particularly late at night.

Christmas Travel and Planning Tips

• December overlaps with year-end school holidays, so flights and hotels around Christmas week are typically priced higher and sell out earlier than other months — book as early as you can.
• If Christmas 2027 falls on your non-working Saturday, confirm your employer’s in-lieu arrangement before booking a “long weekend” trip — don’t assume the Friday or Monday is automatically free.
• Orchard Road gets significantly more crowded in the evenings through December; visiting on a weekday afternoon is a quieter way to see the light-up.
• If you’re combining Christmas with annual leave, compare dates against nearby entitlements and our other holiday guides, including 2027 long weekend planning.
• Restaurants, hotel Christmas buffets and popular attractions get booked out well ahead of 25 December — reserve early if you have a specific place in mind.

December Holidays in Singapore 2026: The Whole Month

When people search for December holidays in Singapore, they usually mean two different things at once: the one gazetted public holiday, and the long school break that swallows most of the month. Both are below.

December 2026 has exactly one public holiday — Christmas Day on Friday 25 December. Nothing else in the month is gazetted. Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, 30 December and New Year’s Eve are all ordinary working days, even though offices often run quiet or close early.

Because Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday, it creates a natural three-day weekend with no leave at all. Take Monday 28 to Thursday 31 December as well — four days of leave — and you are off from Friday 25 December right through to Sunday 3 January 2027: ten days away. That is the single best leave trade left in 2026.

December School Holidays in Singapore 2026

The MOE year-end break is the longest school holiday of the year. For 2026 it runs from Saturday 21 November 2026 to Thursday 31 December 2026, which means Term 4 finishes on Friday 20 November. Schools reopen in the first week of January 2027.

So for most of December the children are home while the offices are open — which is why childcare, holiday camps and enrichment programmes fill up in October and November. The Singapore school holidays page carries the full MOE term calendar, and polytechnic and ITE run on their own schedules again.

Is New Year’s Eve (31 December) a Public Holiday in Singapore?

No. 31 December is a normal working day in Singapore. Only 1 January is gazetted, so the first public holiday after Christmas is Friday 1 January 2027 — which happens to give another three-day weekend straight after the Christmas one.

Many employers do let staff leave early on New Year’s Eve, and the Marina Bay countdown means public transport runs extended hours into the early morning of 1 January. Neither of those makes it a public holiday, so if you want the day off you need to book leave.

Frequently Asked Questions

When the Calendar Resets

Christmas is the final gazetted holiday of the year, and the calendar starts again a week later with New Year’s Day on 1 January. In 2027 that falls on a Friday, opening the year with a three-day weekend, and Chinese New Year follows on 6, 7 and 8 February. MOM has confirmed the 2027 dates, and our 2028 estimates cover the year after for anyone planning well ahead. Parents can cross-check the school holiday term dates as well.

Boxing Day is one of several dates people assume are gazetted here. We list the full set of days that are not a public holiday in Singapore, from Thaipusam to Easter Monday.