Mapped: Countries Whose Fiscal Year Isn’t the Calendar Year

For most of the world, the financial year and the calendar year are the same thing: governments open their books on 1 January and close them on 31 December. But a sizeable minority of countries march to a different drum — starting their budget year in April, July, October, or even on a date set by an entirely different calendar. The map below shows when each country’s government fiscal year begins.

This matters more than it sounds. A country’s fiscal year sets the rhythm of its national budget, its tax deadlines and its economic statistics — and the reasons a nation lands on April, July or October are a mix of agriculture, colonial history and political convenience. Here’s who uses what, and why.

What is a fiscal year?

A fiscal year (or financial year) is the 12-month period a government or company uses for accounting and budgeting. It doesn’t have to line up with the January–December calendar — it just has to be a consistent 12 months. Note that the government fiscal year and the personal tax year aren’t always the same within one country: Japan’s government runs April–March, for example, but its personal income tax is assessed on the calendar year. The map and tables here track the government (national budget) fiscal year.

🇬🇧 April to March: the Commonwealth pattern

The most famous alternative is the 1 April – 31 March year. It’s used by the United Kingdom and a string of countries shaped by British administration, including India, Canada, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong and Myanmar — plus Japan, which adopted it independently.

• United Kingdom — 1 April – 31 March
• India — 1 April – 31 March
• Japan — 1 April – 31 March
• Canada — 1 April – 31 March
• South Africa — 1 April – 31 March
• Singapore — 1 April – 31 March
• Hong Kong — 1 April – 31 March
• Myanmar — 1 April – 31 March

Why April? The British tax year is a leftover from a calendar change. Until 1752 the English new year began on 25 March (Lady Day). When Britain switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar that year, 11 days were dropped — and to avoid shortchanging the treasury, the tax year-end was nudged forward by 11 days, landing near the start of April. The government’s accounting year settled on 1 April, and the British Empire carried the April–March year to India and beyond. Japan chose April–March in 1886, partly to align the budget with the rice-tax harvest.

🌏 July to June

The 1 July – 30 June year is the other big club. It’s used across the southern hemisphere by Australia and New Zealand, in South Asia by Pakistan and Bangladesh, in Egypt, and right across East Africa — Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, whose budgets are loosely harmonised through the East African Community.

• Australia — 1 July – 30 June
• New Zealand — 1 July – 30 June
• Pakistan — 1 July – 30 June
• Bangladesh — 1 July – 30 June
• Egypt — 1 July – 30 June
• Kenya — 1 July – 30 June
• Uganda — 1 July – 30 June
• Tanzania — 1 July – 30 June
• Rwanda — 1 July – 30 June
• Burundi — 1 July – 30 June
• Ethiopia — ~8 July – 7 July (Ethiopian cal.)
• Nepal — mid-July (Bikram Sambat)

A mid-year start has a practical appeal: it keeps the busy end-of-year accounting away from the Christmas and New Year holidays, and in agricultural economies it can line the budget up with the harvest and planting cycle. Ethiopia and Nepal also begin around July, but on their own calendars (more on that below).

🇺🇸 October to September

The world’s largest economy is an outlier. The United States federal government runs its fiscal year from 1 October to 30 September — which is why American budget fights and “government shutdown” deadlines always cluster around the end of September.

• United States — 1 October – 30 September
• Thailand — 1 October – 30 September
• Haiti — 1 October – 30 September
• Trinidad and Tobago — 1 October – 30 September

It wasn’t always this way: the US federal year used to start on 1 July, but in 1976 Congress moved it back three months to October to give itself more time to actually pass the appropriations bills each year. Thailand, Haiti and Trinidad & Tobago also use an October start. (US states are a patchwork of their own — most run July–June.)

🗓️ A different calendar entirely

A handful of countries don’t anchor their fiscal year to the Gregorian calendar at all. Iran and Afghanistan use the Solar Hijri calendar, whose new year falls on the spring equinox — so their fiscal year begins around 21 March (Nowruz). Ethiopia keeps the ancient Ethiopian calendar, with a fiscal year that runs roughly 8 July to 7 July, and Nepal follows the Bikram Sambat calendar, starting in mid-July.

• Iran — ~21 March (Nowruz)
• Afghanistan — ~21 December (Solar Hijri)
• Ethiopia — ~8 July – 7 July (Ethiopian calendar)
• Nepal — mid-July (Bikram Sambat)

Why don’t all countries use the calendar year?

Three forces explain almost every exception. History and inertia: once a date is baked into law, tax software and decades of statistics, changing it is painful — Britain’s April year survives a 270-year-old calendar reform precisely because no one wants to renumber everything. Colonial inheritance: the April–March year spread with the British Empire, which is why India and much of the Commonwealth still use it today. Practical timing: a mid-year start keeps the accounting crunch away from the holidays, can align with the agricultural cycle, or — as in the United States — simply buys the legislature more time to pass the budget.

A few countries have switched in recent decades to simplify cross-border business: Indonesia moved from April–March to the calendar year in 2001, and Saudi Arabia adopted the calendar year in 2016. But for now, the world’s budgets still start on at least four different months of the year.

Related Maps

Public Debt by Country Mapped: how much each country owes, by share of GDP.

Where May 1 Is a Public Holiday Mapped: the countries that mark International Workers' Day on May 1.

When Is Mother's Day Around the World? Mapped: the surprisingly different dates countries celebrate Mother's Day.

Household Price Level Index by Country Mapped: where the cost of living is highest and lowest worldwide.