How Ethiopian fiscal years work
Why '2016 E.C.' mostly means 2023/24 — the Ethiopian calendar, the Hamle–Sene fiscal year, and how we label years.
Ethiopia has its own calendar — and its own fiscal year. Both show up everywhere in Ethiopian financial disclosures, so this platform always presents dates in both calendars.
The Ethiopian calendar
The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months: twelve of 30 days each, plus a short 13th month (Pagume) of 5 or 6 days. It runs about 7–8 years behind the Gregorian calendar, and the Ethiopian New Year (1 Meskerem) falls on 11 or 12 September.
So the Ethiopian year 2016 E.C. begins in September 2023 and ends in September 2024.
The fiscal year
Ethiopia's fiscal year runs Hamle 1 to Sene 30 — roughly 8 July to 7 July Gregorian. That is why you will see the fiscal year "2016 E.C." written as 2023/24: it starts in 2023 and ends in 2024. Most Ethiopian banks and enterprises close their books on 30 June and report for the year ended on that date.
How we label years
- Every fiscal year carries both labels: the Ethiopian ("2016EC") and the Gregorian mapping ("2023/24").
- Every individual date — a publication date, a verification date — is shown in both calendars, for example "15 Nov 2024 (7 Hidar 2017 EC)".
- Charts always display the Ethiopian fiscal-year label with the Gregorian range alongside, so trends read naturally whichever calendar you think in.
Conversion is done with a verified calendar algorithm in one shared utility — the same code renders every date on the platform.