Earth is closest to the Sun in early January every year, and is said to be at perihelion, which comes from the Greek words peri, meaning near and helios, meaning Sun. The perihelion is the closest distance between Earth and the Sun. Earths orbit around the Sun is elliptical, which means that Earth is not at a uniform distance from the Sun at all times. In early January, Earth is about 5 million kilometers closer to the Sun than the planet is during its aphelion, which refers to the point on Earths orbit farthest from the Sun. According to Earth Sky, our planet is about 3% closer to the Sun than it is during the aphelion in early July. The average Earth-Sun distance is 149.6 million kilometers. In 2023, Earth was closest to the Sun on January 4 at 11:17 am EST (9:47 pm IST). Therefore, January is the month when Earth is closest to the Sun.