The legal and cultural expectations for date and time representation vary between countries, and it is important to be aware of the forms of all-numeric calendar dates used in a particular country to know what date is intended.
Writers have traditionally written abbreviated dates according to their local custom, creating all-numeric equivalents to day–month formats such as "" (or) and month–day formats such as "" (or). This can result in dates that are impossible to understand correctly without knowing the context. For instance, depending on the order style, the abbreviated date "01/11/06" can be interpreted as "1 November 2006" for DMY, "January 11, 2006" for MDY, and "2001 November 6" for YMD.
The ISO 8601 format YYYY-MM-DD is intended to harmonize these formats and ensure accuracy in all situations. Many countries have adopted it as their sole official date format, though even in these areas writers may adopt abbreviated formats that are no longer recommended.
All examples use example date 2021-03-31 / 2021 March 31 / 31 March 2021 / March 31, 2021 – except where a single-digit day is illustrated.
Basic components of a calendar date for the most common calendar systems:
Specific formats for the basic components:
Separators of the components:
| Country | All-numeric date format | Details | Official standard | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YMD | DMY | MDY | ||||
| Short format: d/m/yyyy (Year first, month, and day in right-to-left writing direction)Long format: yyyy mmmm d (Day first, full month name, and year in right-to-left writing direction) | ||||||
| Short format: yyyy-mm-ddLong format: d mmmm yyyy | ||||||
| dd/mm/yyyy Some YMD[1] [2] [3] | ||||||
| [4] (dd/mm/yyyy)[5] | ||||||
| (mm/dd/yy) | ||||||
| Numeric format: yyyyMMdd (Example: 20030613)Short format: dd/mm/yy (Example: 13/06/03) Medium format: dd/mm/yyyy (Example: 13/06/2003) Long format: d' de 'mmmm' de 'yyyy (Example: 13 de junio de 2003) Full format: dddd d' de 'mmmm' de 'yyyy (Example: viernes 13 de junio de 2003).[6] | ||||||
| (dd.mm.yyyy)[7] [8] | ||||||
| [9] | ||||||
| mmmm d, yyyy is sometimes used, usually informally in the mastheads of magazines and newspapers,[10] [11] and in advertisements, video games, news, and TV shows, especially those emanating from the United States. MDY in numeric-only form is never used. The ISO 8601 date format (--) is the recommended short date format for government publications.[12] | AS/NZS ISO 8601.1:2021 | |||||
| (Using dots (which denote ordinal numbering) as in d.m.(yy)yy or sometimes d. month (yy)yy).[13] [14] | ÖNORM ISO 8601 | |||||
| (dd.mm.yyyy)[15] | ||||||
| [16] | ||||||
| Not officially standardised. Bengali calendar dates are also used: দদ-মম-বববব | ||||||
| BNS 50:2000[17] | ||||||
| (dd.mm.yyyy)[18] [19] | ||||||
| (dd/mm/yyyy)[20] or (dd.mm.yyyy)[21] [22] | NBN Z 01-002 | |||||
| [23] | ||||||
| (d. m. yyyy. or d. mmmm yyyy.) | ||||||
| yyyy-mm-dd for Setswana and dd/mm/yyyy for English | ||||||
| (dd/mm/yyyy)[24] [25] or (dd.mm.yyyy)[26] | NBR 5892:2019 | |||||
| [27] | ||||||
| (dd.mm.yyyy)[28] [29] | ||||||
| Short format: dd/mm/yyLong format: d mmmm yyyy | ||||||
| (d)d/(m)m/yyyy or d mmmm yyyy for Aghem, Bafia, Basaa, Duala, English, Ewondo, French, Fula, Kako, Kwasio, Mundang, Ngiemboon and Yangben | ||||||
| ISO 8601 is the only format that the Government of Canada and Standards Council of Canada officially recommend for all-numeric dates.[30] [31] [32] However, usage differs with context.[33] [34] All three long forms are used in Canada. For English speakers, MDY (mmmm-dd-yyyy) (example: April 9, 2019) is used by many English-language publications and media company products as well as the majority of government documents written in English.[35] For French and English speakers, DMY (dd-mmmm-yyyy) is used (example: 9 April 2019/le 9 avril 2019). This form is used in formal letters, academic papers, military, many media companies and some government documents, particularly in French-language ones. Federal regulations for shelf life dates on perishable goods mandate a year/month/day format, but allow the month to be written in full, in both official languages, or with a set of standardized two-letter bilingual codes such as 2019 09 or 19 09. | CAN/CSA-Z234.4-89 (R2007)[36] | |||||
| DMY and MDY are used interchangeably. Official forms generally tend towards DMY. Month is often spelled out to avoid confusion. | ||||||
| [37] In Chile the format dd/mm/yyyy is used only, or you can also say "3 June 2023" or in Spanish "3 de junio del 2023"You can also use the short format, example "03/06/23". | ||||||
| National standard format is yyyy-mm-dd (with leading zeroes) and (yy)yyChinese: 年(m)mChinese: 月(d)dChinese: 日 (with or without leading zeroes)[38] Uyghur languages in Xinjiang usually give date examples in the form Uighur; Uyghur: 2017-يىل 18-ئاۋغۇست or Uighur; Uyghur: 2017-8-18 (i.e. yyyy-d-mmm) but this form is never used when writing in Chinese;[39] casually many people use (yy)yy/(m)m/(d)d or (yy)yy.(m)m.(d)d (with or without leading zeroes). See Dates in Chinese. | GB/T 7408.1-2023 | |||||
| [40] | ||||||
| Congo (East and West) | ||||||
| [41] | ||||||
| (d. m. yyyy. or d. mmmm yyyy.)[42] [43] See Date and time notation in Croatia for details on cases used. | ||||||
| [44] | ||||||
| dd/mm/yyyy [45] | ||||||
| (d. m. yyyy or d. month yyyy)[46] [47] | ČSN ISO 8601 | |||||
| Examples: Long date: 7. juni 1994. Long date with weekday: onsdag den 21. 1994. Numeric date: 1994-06-07[48] (The format dd.mm.(yy)yy is the traditional Danish date format.[49] The international format yyyy-mm-dd or yyyymmdd is also accepted, though this format is not commonly used | There are no official standard for numeric date format, although the traditional format is the most widely used Yes, there IS a standard from the authority Dansk Sprognævn! -->. The formats d. 'month name' yyyy and in handwriting d/m-yy or d/m yyyy are also acceptable.[50]) | DS/ISO 8601:2005[51] | ||||
| Short format: dd/mm/yyyy (Day first, month number and year in left-to-right writing direction) in Afar, French and Somali ("d/m/yy" is a common alternative). Gregorian dates follow the same rules but tend to be written in the yyyy/m/d format (Day first, month number, and year in right-to-left writing direction) in Arabic language. Long format: d mmmm yyyy or mmmm dd, yyyy (Day first, full month name, and year or first full month name, day, and year, in left-to-right writing direction) in Afar, French and Somali and yyyy ،mmmm d (Day first, full month name, and year in right-to-left writing direction) in Arabic | ||||||
| [52] | ||||||
| [53] | ||||||
| [54] [55] [56] | ||||||
| [57] | ||||||
| (dd/mm/yyyy or d mmmm yyyy) for French and Spanish | ||||||
| Short format: dd/mm/yyyy for Afar, Bilen, English, Saho, Tigre and Tigrinya. Gregorian dates follow the same rules but tend to be written in the yyyy/m/d (Day first, month number and year in right-to-left writing direction) format in Arabic language. Long format: D MMMM YYYY (Day first, full month name, and year in left-to-right writing direction) for Bilen, English, Tigre and Tigrinya, YYYY ،MMMM D (Day first, full month name, and year in right-to-left writing direction) for Arabic and MMMM DD, YYYY (First full month name, day and year in left-to-right writing direction) for Afar and Saho | ||||||
| dd.mm.yyyy, d.m.(yy)yy or d. mmmm yyyy (mmmm may be substituted by Roman numerals). In more formal, international contexts yyyy-mm-dd is the preferred allowed format.[58] | ||||||
| YMD (in Swati), DMY (in English) | ||||||
| (dd/mm/yyyy or dd mmmm yyyy) for Amharic, Tigrinya and Wolaytta (dd/mm/yyyy or mmmm dd, yyyy) for Afar, Oromo and Somali[59] | ||||||
| [60] | ||||||
| Finnish: d.m.yyyy[61] or in long format d. mmmm yyyy Inari Sami: mmmm d. Inari Sami: p. yyyy Northern Sami: mmmm d. Northern Sami: b. yyyy Skolt Sami: mmmm d. Skolt Sami: p. yyyy Swedish: d mmmm yyyy (Note: Month and year can be shortened) | ||||||
| [62] | ||||||
| (dd/mm/yyyy) for Alsatian, Catalan, Corsican, French and Occitan[63] [64] (yyyy-mm-dd) for Breton, Basque and Interlingua | NF Z69-200 | |||||
| (dd.mm.yyyy) (In Georgian calendar dates, century digits may be omitted, e.g., dd-mm-yy.) | ||||||
| The format dd.mm.yyyy using dots (which denote ordinal numbering) is the traditional German date format.[65] Since 1996-05-01, the international format yyyy-mm-dd has become the official standard date format, but the handwritten form d. mmmm yyyy is also accepted (see DIN 5008). Standardisation applies to all applications in the scope of the standard including uses in government, education, engineering and sciences. Since 2006, the old format (d)d.(m)m.(yy)yy is allowed again as alternative to the yyyy-mm-dd format in areas where there is no risk of ambiguation. See Date and time notation in Europe. | DIN ISO 8601:2006-09, used in DIN 5008:2011-04 (see Datumsformat) | |||||
| (yyyy/mm/dd) for Akan (dd/mm/yyyy) (m/d/yyyy) for Ewe | ||||||
| [66] [67] | ELOT EN 28601 | |||||
| Danish: d. mmmm yyyy Greenlandic: mmmm d.Kalaallisut; Greenlandic: -at, yyyy[68] | ||||||
| Short format: dd/mm/yyyyLong format: d de mmmm de yyyy or dddd, d de mmmm de yyyy[69] | ||||||
| Short format: dd/mm/yyyy (Day first, month and year in left-to-right writing direction) in French and Fulah. Gregorian dates follow the same rules but tend to be written in yyyy/mm/dd (Day first, month number, and year in right-to-left writing direction) format in N'ko language. Long format: D MMMM YYYY (Day first, month and year in left-to-right writing direction) for French and Fulah and YYYY, DD MMMM (First full month name, day, and year in right-to-left writing direction) for N'ko | ||||||
| (yy)yyChinese: 年(m)mChinese: 月(d)dChinese: 日 (if without leading zeros) for Chinese[70] and in British English, (d)d/(m)m/(yy)yy in short format. d mmmm yyyy (Casually many people use with commas: d mmmm, yyyy) in long format.Both expanded forms dd-mmmm-yyyy and mmmm-dd-yyyy are used interchangeably in Hong Kong, except the latter was more frequently used in media publications and commercial purpose, such as The Standard. | ||||||
| [71] | ||||||
| yyyy. mm. (d)d.The year is written in Arabic numerals. The name of the month can be written out in full or abbreviated, or it can be indicated by Roman numerals or Arabic numerals. The day is written in Arabic numerals.[72] [73] [74] | MSZ ISO 8601:2003 | |||||
| (dd.mm.yyyy)[75] [76] | IST EN 28601:1992 | |||||
| In India, the dd-mm-yyyy is the predominant short form of the numeric date usage. Almost all government documents need to be filled up in the dd-mm-yyyy format. An example of dd-mm-yyyy usage is the passport application form.[77] [78] [79] Though not yet a common practice, the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) of the Government of India introduced the standard named "IS 7900:2001 (Revised in 2006) Data Elements And Interchange Formats – Information Interchange – Representation Of Dates And Times" which officially recommends use of the date format yyyy-mm-dd; for example, 2013-09-10, 20130910, or 2013 09 10 for the date 10 September 2013. Dates in the Bodo language are in mm/dd/yyyy.The majority of English-language newspapers and media publications in India use mmmm dd, yyyy. | IS 7900:2001 | |||||
| On English-written materials, Indonesians tend to use the M-D-Y but was more widely used in non-governmental contexts. English-language governmental and academic documents use DMY. | ||||||
| Short format: yyyy/mm/dd[80] in Persian Calendar system ("yy/m/d" is a common alternative). Gregorian dates follow the same rules in Persian literature but tend to be written in the dd/mm/yyyy format in official English documents.[81] Long format: YYYY MMMM D (Day first, full month name, and year in right-to-left writing direction) | ||||||
| Short format: (dd/mm/yyyy)[82] | ||||||
| (dd-mm-yyyy). dd/mm/yyyy is also in common use[83] [84] | IS/EN 28601:1993 | |||||
| The format dd.mm.yyyy using dots is the common format. dd/mm/yyyy is also in common use. The Jewish calendar is in limited use, mainly for Jewish holidays, and follows the DMY format.[85] [86] [87] | ||||||
| (dd/mm/yyyy)[88] | UNI EN 28601 | |||||
| [89] | ||||||
| Often in the form yyyyJapanese: 年mmJapanese: 月ddJapanese: 日;[90] sometimes Japanese era year is used, e.g. Japanese: [[Heisei|平成]]18年12月30日.[91] | JIS X 0301:2002 | |||||
| [92] [93] | ||||||
| Short format: (yyyy.dd.mm) in Kazakh[94] and (dd.mm.(yy)yy) in Russian[95] Long format: yyyy 'ж'. d mmmm in Kazakh;[96] d MMMM yyyy in Russian Full format in Kazakh: yyyy 'ж'. dd mmmm | ||||||
| (yy/mm/dd)[97] (dd/mm/yyyy) | ||||||
| [99] | ||||||
| National standard format is yyyy-mm-dd (with leading zeroes) and (yy)yyKorean: 년 (m)mKorean: 월 (d)dKorean: 일 (with or without leading zeroes)[100] casually many people use (yy)yy.(m)m.(d)d(.) (with or without leading zeroes, with or without the last full stop). | KS X ISO 8601 | |||||
| [101] | ||||||
| (dd.mm.yyyy)[102] | ||||||
| [103] [104] | ||||||
| Short format: dd.mm.yyyy.[105] Long format: yyyy. gada d. mmmm | ||||||
| [106] | ||||||
| yyyy-mm-dd for Sesotho and dd/mm/yyyy for English | ||||||
| [107] | ||||||
| (dd.mm.yyyy)[108] | ||||||
| (yyyy-mm-dd)[109] yyyy <m.> <month in genitive> d <d.>| LST ISO 8601:1997 (obsolete) LST ISO 8601:2006 (current)[110] |-|  Luxembourg || || || || (dd.mm.yyyy)[111] | ITM-EN 28601|-| || || || || YMD（年月日）(same as Hong Kong)[112] DMY (in Portuguese and British English)||-| Long format: dd mmmm yyyy (Year first, full month name and day last in right-to-left writing direction)||-| Mali || || || ||||-|  Malta || || || ||||-|  Marshall Islands || || || || [114] ||-|  Martinique || || || ||||-|  Mauritania || || || ||||-|  Mauritius || || || ||||-|  Mayotte || || || ||||-|  Mexico || || || ||[115] | NOM-008-SCFI-2002|-| || || || ||||-|  Monaco || || || ||[116] ||-|  Mongolia || || || || National standard format is yyyy-mm-dd (with leading zeroes) and yyyy Mongolian: оны (m)m Mongolian: сарын (d)d (with or without leading zeroes)Traditional Mongolian languages in Mongolia usually give date examples in the form Mongolian: 2017ᠣᠨ ᠵᠢᠷᠭᠤᠳᠤᠭᠠᠷ ᠰᠠᠷᠠ 2ᠡᠳᠦᠷ but this form is never used when writing in Mongolian Cyrillic; casually many people use yyyy/(m)m/(d)d or yyyy.(m)m.(d)d (with or without leading zeroes).[117] | MNS-ISO 8601|-|  Montenegro || || || || Both d.m.yyyy. and dd.mm.yyyy. are accepted. A period is used as a separator and after the year because the Montenegrin language writes these numbers as ordinal numbers that are written as the corresponding cardinal number, with a period at the end.[118] ||-|  Montserrat || || || ||||-|  Morocco || || || ||[119] ||-|  Mozambique || || || ||||-|  Myanmar || || || || YMD for Burmese calendar. DMY for Gregorian calendar.||-|  Namibia || || || || DMY[120] ||-|  Nauru || || || ||||-|  Nepal || || || || DMY, YMD in official Nepali Vikram Samvat calendar (also see Nepal Sambat which is also in use); MDY in Gregorian dates are used for newspapers (English language) and PCs[121] |||-|  Netherlands || || || || Using hyphens as in "dd-mm-yyyy".[122] | NEN ISO 8601, NEN EN 28601, NEN 2772|-|  New Caledonia || || || ||||-|  New Zealand || || || ||[123] |AS/NZS ISO 8601.1:2021|-|  Nicaragua || || || ||[124] ||-|  Niger || || || ||||-|  Nigeria || || || || Short format: (d)d/(m)m/(yy)yy for Edo, English, Fulani, Hausa, Ibibio, Igbo, Kanuri and Yoruba language[125] Long format: d mmmm yyyy for English, Hausa and Igbo and mmmm dd, yyyy for Edo, Fulani, Ibibio, Kanuri and Yoruba language||-|  Niue || || || || dd/mm/yyyy||-|  Norfolk Island || || || ||||-| || || || || (dd.mm.yyyy)[126] ||-|  Northern Mariana Islands || || || ||[127] ||-|  Norway || || || || dd.mm.yyyy; leading zeroes and century digits may be omitted, e.g., 10.02.16; ddmmyy (six figures, no century digits, no delimiters) allowed in tables. ISO dates yyyy-mm-dd can be used for "technical" purposes. The fraction form d/m-y is incorrect, but is common and considered passable in handwriting. Lule Sami and Southern Sami dates mmmm d. Northern Sami: b. yyyy.[128] | NS-ISO 8601[129] |-|  Oman || || || ||[130] ||-|  Pakistan || || || ||||-| (Palestinian Authority, West Bank and Gaza Strip) || || || || (dd/mm/yyyy)||-|  Palau || || || || [131] Formerly including: (m)m/(d)d/(yy)yy in English and (yy)yy/m(m)/(d)d in Japanese||-|  Panama || || || || Short format: mm/dd/yyyy Long format: d de mmmm de yyyy[132] ||-|  Papua New Guinea || || || ||||-|  Paraguay || || || ||[133] ||-|  Peru || || || ||[134] ||-|  Philippines || || || || Long formats:English: mmmm d, yyyy DMY dates are also used occasionally, primarily by, but not limited to, government institutions such as on the data page of passports, and immigration and customs forms. Filipino: Tagalog: ika-d Tagalog: ng mmmm yyyy[135] or Tagalog: a-d Tagalog: ng mmmm yyyy (Note: Month and year can be shortened. Filipino dates may also be written in mmmm d, yyyy format in civil use but still pronounced as above.) Short/numerical format: mm/dd/yyyy for both languages.||-| || || || ||||-|  Poland || || || || Traditional format (DMY): (dd.mm.yyyy,[136] often with dots as separators; more official is d <month in genitive> yyyy, or, less frequently, d <month in Roman numerals> yyyy)[137] [138] Official format (YMD):The ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format is used in official documents, banks, computer systems and the internet in Poland. | PN-90/N-01204 | |||||
| Mostly (dd/mm/yyyy) and (dd-mm-yyyy); some newer documents use (yyyy-mm-dd).[139] | NP EN 28601 | |||||
| English: mmmm d, yyyy Spanish: d Spanish; Castilian: de mmmm Spanish; Castilian: de yyyy | ||||||
| [140] | ||||||
| (dd.mm.yyyy)[141] [142] Also widely used: (d)d-mmm-yyyy (3 letters of month name with the notable exception of Nov for November, which would otherwise be Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: noiembrie) and (d)d-XII-yyyy (month number as a Roman numeral with lines above AND below, slowly deprecating) | ||||||
| yyyy-mm-dd dd.mm.yyyy (dd.mm.(yy)yy);[143] more official is d <month in genitive> yyyy Russian: г. (= g., short for goda, i.e. year in genitive)Bashkir, Ossetian, Sakha and Tatar languages in Russia usually give date examples in the form Bashkir: 22 май 2017 й, Ossetian; Ossetic: 22 майы, 2017 аз, Yakut: ыам ыйын 22 күнэ 2017 с., Tatar: 22 май 2017 ел but this form is never used when writing in Russian.|style="vertical-align:top"| GOST R 7.0.64-2018 GOST R 7.0.97-2016 |-|  Rwanda || || || || (yyyy/mm/dd or yyyy mmmm dd) for Kinyarwanda(dd/mm/yyyy or d mmmm yyyy) for English and French||-| || || || ||||-| || || || ||||-| DMY in English, Malay and Tamil languages[152] MDY (in long format) also sometimes used, especially in media publications, commercial usage, and some governmental websites.||-| || || || ||||-| || || || ||||-| |SANS 8601:2009[158] |-| (yyyy/mm/dd) for Basque[160] | UNE EN 28601|-| The textual format is "d mmmm yyyy" or "den d mmmm yyyy". | SS-ISO 8601|-| Long format: yyyyChinese: 年mChinese: 月dChinese: 日, in most context year is represented using ROC era system: Chinese: 民國95年12月30日.[168] | CNS 7648|-| Full format: d mmmm yyyy dddd[175] ||-| Some newspapers use dddd mmmm d, yyyy for both the banner and articles,[185] while others stick to DMY for both.[186] In addition, YMD with four-digit year is used increasingly especially in applications associated with computers, and as per British standard BS ISO 8601:2004,[187] avoiding the ambiguity of the numerical versions of the DMY/MDY formats. | BS ISO 8601:2004|-| In English documents: In historical documents: era names năm thứ _ tháng [m]m (or in textform) ngày(mồng) [d]d (or in textform).||-| See also
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