You can use the following methods to add and subtract months from a date in pandas:
Method 1: Add Months to Date
from pandas.tseries.offsets import DateOffset
df['date_column'] + DateOffset(months=3)
Method 2: Subtract Months from Date
from pandas.tseries.offsets import DateOffset
df['date_column'] - DateOffset(months=3)
The following examples show how to use each method in practice with the following pandas DataFrame:
import pandas as pd
#create DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame({'date': pd.date_range(start='1/5/2022', freq='M', periods=10),
'sales': [6, 8, 9, 5, 4, 8, 8, 3, 5, 9]})
#view DataFrame
print(df)
date sales
0 2022-01-31 6
1 2022-02-28 8
2 2022-03-31 9
3 2022-04-30 5
4 2022-05-31 4
5 2022-06-30 8
6 2022-07-31 8
7 2022-08-31 3
8 2022-09-30 5
9 2022-10-31 9
Example 1: Add Months to Date in Pandas
The following code shows how to create a new column that adds 3 months to the value in the date column:
from pandas.tseries.offsets import DateOffset
#create new column that adds 3 months to date
df['date_plus3'] = df.date + DateOffset(months=3)
#view updated DataFrame
print(df)
date sales date_plus3
0 2022-01-31 6 2022-04-30
1 2022-02-28 8 2022-05-28
2 2022-03-31 9 2022-06-30
3 2022-04-30 5 2022-07-30
4 2022-05-31 4 2022-08-31
5 2022-06-30 8 2022-09-30
6 2022-07-31 8 2022-10-31
7 2022-08-31 3 2022-11-30
8 2022-09-30 5 2022-12-30
9 2022-10-31 9 2023-01-31
The new column date_plus3 represents the values in the date column with three months added to each value.
Example 2: Subtract Months from Date in Pandas
The following code shows how to create a new column that subtracts 3 months to the value in the date column:
from pandas.tseries.offsets import DateOffset
#create new column that subtracts 3 months from date
df['date_minus3'] = df.date + DateOffset(months=3)
#view updated DataFrame
print(df)
date sales date_minus3
0 2022-01-31 6 2021-10-31
1 2022-02-28 8 2021-11-28
2 2022-03-31 9 2021-12-31
3 2022-04-30 5 2022-01-30
4 2022-05-31 4 2022-02-28
5 2022-06-30 8 2022-03-30
6 2022-07-31 8 2022-04-30
7 2022-08-31 3 2022-05-31
8 2022-09-30 5 2022-06-30
9 2022-10-31 9 2022-07-31
The new column date_minus3 represents the values in the date column with three months subtracted from each value.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common operations in pandas:
How to Convert Columns to DateTime in Pandas
How to Convert Datetime to Date in Pandas
How to Extract Month from Date in Pandas