Europe · Southeast Europe · Sovereign state
Current time in Bulgaria
A single time zone at UTC+03:00. Currently observing daylight saving time.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
About Bulgaria's time
A single time zone.
Bulgaria uses a single time zone: Eastern European Time (EET, UTC+02:00) in winter and Eastern European Summer Time (EEST, UTC+03:00) in summer, following 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 Bulgaria.
History
How Bulgaria keeps time.
Bulgaria adopted standard time in 1894, aligning with Eastern European Time (EET, UTC+02:00) as part of broader European standardization efforts. During World War II, from November 1942 to April 1945, Bulgaria switched to Central European Time (UTC+01:00) with summer time. Annual daylight saving time began in 1979. Bulgaria has followed the EU schedule since 1997, moving clocks forward on the last Sunday of March and back on the last Sunday of October.
Did you know?
Things about Bulgaria's time.
Bulgaria’s single, unified timezone simplifies travel and business coordination across the country, with no regional exceptions. A notable feature is its full participation in EU daylight saving time, meaning clocks shift simultaneously with most of Western and Central Europe, facilitating cross-border work and communication. Unlike some neighboring countries that abandoned DST or changed policies, Bulgaria has maintained consistent adherence to EU rules since the late 1990s, making it reliable for international scheduling.
Convert
Bulgaria to the world's clocks.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Bulgaria's time zone, daylight saving rules, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Does Bulgaria observe daylight saving time?
- Yes, Bulgaria observes daylight saving time, switching between EET (UTC+02:00) in winter and EEST (UTC+03:00) in summer according to EU rules.
- What is the time difference between Bulgaria and UTC?
- Bulgaria is UTC+02:00 in winter and UTC+03:00 in summer due to daylight saving time.
- Are there different time zones within Bulgaria?
- No, the entire country uses Eastern European Time with no regional exceptions.
- When do clocks change in Bulgaria?
- Clocks go forward one hour on the last Sunday of March and back one hour on the last Sunday of October, on the EU schedule.
- How does Bulgaria’s timezone compare to neighboring countries?
- Bulgaria shares the same time and DST schedule as neighboring Greece and Romania. Neighboring North Macedonia and Serbia are one hour behind, and Turkey is one hour ahead in winter and level in summer.
- What is the standard time in winter?
- In winter, Bulgaria uses Eastern European Time (EET), which is UTC+02:00.
- Is there any part of Bulgaria that doesn’t follow the national time?
- No, Bulgaria has no regions with different time rules; the entire country observes the same time and DST transitions.
- Why did Bulgaria adopt DST in line with EU rules?
- Bulgaria has followed the EU daylight saving schedule since 1997, keeping its clock changes in step with the rest of Europe for business, travel and communication. It joined the EU in 2007.
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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