Countries That Use the DD/MM/YYYY Date Format (Little-Endian)

If you write today as 31/12/2025, you are using the DD/MM/YYYY order — day, then month, then year. It is called the little-endian format because the smallest unit (the day) comes first, and it is the most widely used date order in the world. This guide lists the countries that use it and shows you how to avoid the mix-ups that cost people money.

What "little-endian" actually means

Endianness simply describes which part of the date you write first. Little-endian goes smallest-to-largest: day, month, year (31/12/2025). It reads the way most people say a date aloud — "the 31st of December, 2025."

Short forms look like 31/12/2025, 31-12-2025 or 31.12.2025, and a day-month can appear as 31/12.

Why the order matters (a real cost)

The date 03/04/2025 means 3 April in India and the UK, but 4 March in the United States. That single ambiguity has caused missed deadlines, wrong flight bookings, rejected forms and disputed contract dates. When in doubt, spell the month out, or use the unambiguous international standard, YYYY-MM-DD (ISO 8601).

Need to count days between two dates regardless of format? Use the Date Difference Calculator, or find what day of the week any date falls on with the Day of the Week tool.

Countries that use DD/MM/YYYY

This order is standard across most of Europe, Latin America, Africa, South Asia (including India), Oceania and the Middle East. The main list:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada (alongside others), Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Note: several countries accept more than one format in practice. Canada, for example, uses DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY and YYYY-MM-DD depending on context.

Frequently asked questions

Is DD/MM/YYYY the most common date format?

Yes. By number of countries, day-month-year is the most widely used civil date order in the world.

Does India use DD/MM/YYYY?

Yes. India writes dates as DD/MM/YYYY in everyday and official use — for example, 15/08/2025 for 15 August 2025.

How do I avoid confusion with the US format?

For any date that could be misread (day and month both 12 or less), write the month as a word, or use YYYY-MM-DD, which every system reads the same way.