Short answer: there are three main orders. Year-month-day (Japan, China, Korea and others), day-month-year (the UK, much of Europe, India, Australia, much of Latin America and others) and month-day-year (the United States). "05/03/2026" is March 5 in some countries and May 3 in others. For international work, a year-first form such as 2026-03-05 or 20260305 is the safe choice.
Date formats by country (example: March 5, 2026)
| Country / region | Order | Typical way to write it |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | Year-month-day | 2026/03/05, March 5, 2026, Reiwa 8, March 5 |
| China | Year-month-day | March 5, 2026, 2026-03-05 |
| South Korea | Year-month-day | 2026.03.05, 2026-03-05 |
| Taiwan | Year-month-day | 2026/03/05, ROC year 115, March 5 |
| Sweden | Year-month-day | 2026-03-05 |
| Hungary | Year-month-day | 2026. 03. 05. |
| United Kingdom | Day-month-year | 05/03/2026 |
| Germany | Day-month-year | 05.03.2026 |
| France | Day-month-year | 05/03/2026 |
| Spain, Italy | Day-month-year | 05/03/2026 |
| Netherlands | Day-month-year | 05-03-2026 |
| Russia | Day-month-year | 05.03.2026 |
| India | Day-month-year | 05/03/2026 |
| Australia | Day-month-year | 05/03/2026 |
| Brazil, Mexico | Day-month-year | 05/03/2026 |
| Thailand | Day-month-year | 05/03/2569 (Buddhist era) |
| United States | Month-day-year | 03/05/2026 |
| Canada | Mixed | 2026-03-05 (official), 05/03/2026, 03/05/2026 (both used) |
The table is a rough guide to common usage. Official formats and everyday writing can differ, and so can companies and documents. In real exchanges, check the other side's format.
How to tell the orders apart
- Year-month-day: largest unit first. It sorts well, and the international standard ISO 8601 (2026-03-05) uses it.
- Day-month-year: Europe, India, Australia, much of Latin America and others. The separator (slash, dot, hyphen) varies by country.
- Month-day-year: the United States is the best-known case. With the month first, it is easy to misread against day-month-year countries.
Some countries count years differently
| Country / region | Year counting | 2026 (Western calendar) |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | Japanese era (Reiwa) | Reiwa 8 (Western year − 2018) |
| Taiwan | ROC year | ROC 115 (Western year − 1911) |
| Thailand | Buddhist era | 2569 (Western year + 543) |
For era conversion see Japanese era conversion, and for world calendars see World date formats and calendars.
How to avoid misreading
- Start with the year: 2026-03-05 (ISO 8601) or 20260305. See What is ISO 8601?
- Write the month in words: 5 Mar 2026. See Writing dates in English.
- Day-first 8 digits: see What is ddmmyyyy?
For why misreading happens, see Is 08/09 August 9 or September 8?
Type the format with one key
Retyping dates by hand each time the other country's style changes invites mix-ups. InsertDate is a Windows app that types today's date in your chosen format when you press the Insert key. See the supported formats in the download section.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are dates written in India?
Usually day-month-year with slashes. March 5, 2026 is 05/03/2026.
What is the date order in Europe?
Day-month-year in most countries. Germany and Russia commonly use dots (05.03.2026) and France and Spain use slashes (05/03/2026).
Which countries put the month first?
The United States is the best-known case, with month-day-year (03/05/2026). That is why the same digits can be misread by people from day-month-year countries.
Which format is best for international documents?
A year-first form (2026-03-05 or 20260305) is safest because it cannot be misread across countries.
Try InsertDate Free for 7 Days
Press Insert. Get today's date in yyyyMMdd. Works in almost any Windows app, including Excel, Word and Notepad, with no configuration. To type into an app running as administrator, run InsertDate as administrator too.
InsertDate is a Windows 10/11 app. Reading on a phone? Open this page on your PC to install it.