Europe · Central Europe · Sovereign state
Current time in Austria
A single time zone at UTC+02:00. Currently observing daylight saving time.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
About Austria's time
A single time zone.
Austria keeps things simple with a single time zone, switching between CET (UTC+1) in winter and CEST (UTC+2) in summer, in line with the EU daylight saving schedule.
Next clock change
2026 Sunday · clocks fall back
Clocks fall back by one hour · next week.
Daylight saving schedule
Major cities
Cities of Austria.
History
How Austria keeps time.
Austria adopted Central European Time (CET, UTC+1:00) on April 1, 1893, while it was part of Austria-Hungary. CET is based on the 15°E meridian, not on Vienna, whose local mean time ran about five minutes ahead of it. The Republic of Austria, founded in 1918, kept CET as its standard time.
Austria observed daylight saving time from 1916 to 1918 and again in 1920, then not until 1940, when it was part of Germany; summer time continued until 1948. Austria reintroduced it in 1980 and has followed the common EU schedule since joining the EU in 1995, switching between CET in winter and CEST in summer.
Did you know?
Things about Austria's time.
Despite spanning from the western border near Bregenz to the eastern outskirts of Vienna, Austria fits comfortably within a single time zone, with only about 30 minutes of solar time difference from one end of the country to the other, so the single zone causes no major daily-life friction. However, Austria’s central longitude (roughly 14°E) is somewhat west of the ideal meridian for CET (15°E), so clocks run slightly ahead of solar noon in the west and behind in the east. Austria’s strict adherence to EU-wide DST transitions means that twice a year, the whole country experiences the same clock-shift ritual as 400+ million other Europeans, and although the European Parliament voted in 2019 to end seasonal clock changes, EU governments have not agreed on it, so the changes continue.
Convert
Austria to the world's clocks.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Austria's time zone, daylight saving rules, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Does Austria observe daylight saving time?
- Yes. Austria switches to Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, in line with EU rules.
- Is all of Austria in the same time zone?
- Yes. Austria uses a single time zone: Central European Time (CET, UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) in summer.
- What is the time difference between Austria and London?
- During winter (CET), Austria is 1 hour ahead of London (UTC+1 vs UTC+0). During summer (CEST and BST), Austria is still 1 hour ahead (UTC+2 vs UTC+1).
- Does Austria’s time zone change for any regions or states?
- No. All nine Austrian states, including mountainous regions and border areas, follow the same time zone as Vienna.
- What’s the best time to schedule calls with Vienna for someone in New York?
- Vienna is normally 6 hours ahead of New York. A good overlap for business calls is the afternoon in Vienna (2–5 PM CET/CEST), which is 8–11 AM in New York (EST/EDT).
- Will Austria ever stop changing clocks for DST?
- The EU has debated ending seasonal clock changes, but no binding decision has been made. If abolished, Austria would need to choose permanent standard or summer time, likely in coordination with neighboring countries.
Source: IANA tzdb2026d · Reviewed
Free · Developer API
This country, as JSON.
Its default time zone, zone and city counts and DST summary, from one endpoint.
Also in the API: time zones by coordinates, conversions that flag daylight saving gaps, and abbreviations decoded.
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