The same Chinese zodiac animal returns every 12 years.
The Chinese zodiac contains twelve animals arranged in a repeating cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. After the Pig year, the sequence starts again with Rat.
This twelve-year interval is different from the sixty-year sexagenary cycle. Each animal is paired with one of five elements through the heavenly stems, so the same animal-and-element combination takes sixty years to recur. For example, a Rat year can return after twelve years, but the same type of Rat year returns after sixty.
The cycle applies to traditional zodiac years, which begin at Lunar New Year rather than on a fixed Gregorian date. Consequently, a person born in January or early February may need the previous lunar year’s animal. The twelve-year pattern is calendrical and cultural, not a scientific classification of personality.