Python continue Statement: Skip to the Next Loop Iteration

continue skips the rest of the current iteration and jumps straight to the next one. The loop keeps running; only this one pass is cut short. It is a tidy way to ignore items you do not want to process.

continue in a for loop#

Print only the odd numbers:

for n in range(1, 8):
    if n % 2 == 0:
        continue
    print(n)

1
3
5
7

For even numbers, continue jumps back to the top of the loop, so print(n) is skipped.

Skipping unwanted data#

continue shines when cleaning data. Skip empty lines and comments in a simple settings file:

lines = ["# comment", "name=Asha", "", "city=Pune", "# another"]

for line in lines:
    if not line or line.startswith("#"):
        continue
    key, value = line.split("=")
    print(key, "->", value)

name -> Asha
city -> Pune

Putting the "skip" checks at the top keeps the main work at a single indentation level, the loop version of the guard clauses in Nested Conditions.

Another example: ignore invalid exam scores but keep the valid ones:

scores = [72, -1, 88, 105, 64]
valid = []

for s in scores:
    if s < 0 or s > 100:
        print("skipping invalid score", s)
        continue
    valid.append(s)

print(valid)

skipping invalid score -1
skipping invalid score 105
[72, 88, 64]

continue in a while loop#

In a while loop, make sure the loop variable is updated before continue, or the loop may never end:

n = 0
while n < 6:
    n += 1          # update first
    if n == 3:
        continue
    print(n)

1
2
4
5
6

If n += 1 came after the continue, then once n reached 3 it would never change again, and the loop would run forever.

continue vs break#

Common mistakes#

Practice#

total = 0
for n in range(1, 21):
    if n % 3 == 0:
        continue
    total += n

print(total)

147

Key takeaway#