PHP Difference Between Two Dates In Years, Months And Days

2 min readAug 25, 2020

To calculate the difference between two dates in years, months and days in PHP, we have to use three functions

Let us consider two dates and store in variables.
$date1 = ‘2016–06–01’;
$date2 = ‘2020–08–08’;

Now, the difference between these two dates will be

$diff = abs(strtotime($date2)-strtotime($date1));

To calculate the year, divide the difference by total seconds in the year that is 365*60*60*24

Now, the year between these two dates will be

$years = floor($diff / (365*60*60*24));

To calculate the month, subtract the year from the date difference and divide the result by total seconds in a month that is 30*60*60*24

Now, the month between these two dates will be

$months = floor(($diff - $years * 365*60*60*24) / (30*60*60*24));

To calculate the day, subtract the date difference from the year and month and divide the result by total seconds in a day that is 60*60*24

Now, the days between these two dates will be

$days = floor(($diff - $years * 365*60*60*24 - $months*30*60*60*24)/ (60*60*24));

Complete Code:-

<?php

$date1 = '2016-06-01';

$date2 = '2020-08-08';

$diff = abs(strtotime($date2)-strtotime($date1));

$years = floor($diff / (365*60*60*24));

$months = floor(($diff - $years * 365*60*60*24) / (30*60*60*24));

$days = floor(($diff - $years * 365*60*60*24 - $months*30*60*60*24)/ (60*60*24));

echo 'The year between these two dates is '.$years.' Years'.'<br>';

echo 'The month between these two dates is '.$months.' Month'.'<br>';

echo 'The days between these two dates is '.$days.' Days'.'<br>';

?>

How to calculate no of days between two dates in PHP

<?php

$date1 = '2016-06-01';

$date2 = '2020-08-08';

$diff = abs(strtotime($date2)-strtotime($date1));

$days = $diff/(60*60*24);

echo 'The total no of days between these two dates: $days;

?>

Conclusion:- I hope this tutorial will help you to understand the difference between two dates in PHP in years, months, and days.