Americas · South America · Sovereign state
Current time in Chile
Spans 3 time zones from UTC-03:00 to UTC-03:00. 1 of 3 zones currently in DST.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
About Chile's time
3 time zones.
Chile stretches across four time zones, spanning from UTC-6 to UTC-3, with most of the mainland in UTC-4. The country has a complicated relationship with daylight saving time, and decisions around it sometimes last only a single year.
Next clock change
2027 Sunday · clocks fall back
Clocks fall back by one hour · in 6 months.
Affects 1 of 3 zones.
Daylight saving schedule
By time zone
Time zones of Chile.
3 time zones
Remote territories & research stations
Major cities
Cities of Chile.
History
How Chile keeps time.
Chile's standard time has undergone multiple significant changes throughout its history. From 1890, Chile kept Santiago Mean Time (UTC-4:42:45) as its national time, switching several times between it, UTC-5 and UTC-4 in the early 20th century.
UTC-4 has been standard time on most of the mainland since 1947, and in 1968 Chile began observing a regular summer daylight saving time (UTC-3).
The issue of daylight savings has been particularly turbulent. Between 2015 and 2016, Chile experimented with permanent DST (UTC-3 year-round), abandoning the winter change entirely. The public backlash was strong — children were waiting for school buses in near total darkness during winter, and productivity metrics suffered. Chile reverted to standard time in May 2016. Since 2019 the mainland has mostly followed a fixed pattern — clocks back in early April and forward in early September — though the government moved the September 2022 change by a week at short notice.
In December 2016, the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica region stopped changing clocks and stayed on UTC-3 all year; the Aysén region (Coyhaique) did the same in March 2025. Easter Island, roughly 3,700 km west in the Pacific, has always kept its own time: two hours behind Santiago since 1982 (UTC-6 in winter, UTC-5 in summer).
Did you know?
Things about Chile's time.
Chile's timezone situation is one of the most administratively volatile in South America. The government has frequently changed DST start and end dates on short notice, sometimes switching them within the same calendar year. Emergency extensions of DST have been declared in response to droughts and energy crises, adding to the confusion.
Geographically, mainland Chile is a narrow north-south strip, yet its decisions to keep Magallanes (Punta Arenas) on UTC-3 all year from 2016, and the Aysén region (Coyhaique) from 2025, reflect the country's struggle to balance solar time, administration, and regional identity. The Magallanes region has one of the most extreme solar schedules in the inhabited world: in midsummer, the sun does not set until around 10 PM.
Easter Island (Rapa Nui), despite being part of Chile, has always kept its own time because of its position deep in the Pacific: since 1982 it has been two hours behind Santiago (UTC-6 in winter, UTC-5 in summer).
A notable consequence of Chile's frequent DST schedule changes is that international software companies and calendar apps have occasionally failed to update in time, causing meetings to be missed and flights miscalculated. Chile's timezone status is tracked closely by the maintainers of the time zone database used by computers and phones, who have had to issue emergency database updates multiple times.
Convert
Chile to the world's clocks.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Chile's time zone, daylight saving rules, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- What is the current time in Santiago, Chile?
- Santiago uses UTC-4 during standard time and UTC-3 during daylight saving time. Clocks go back in early April and forward in early September, though the government has shifted these dates at short notice before.
- Does Chile observe daylight saving time?
- Yes, in most of the country, including Santiago and Easter Island: clocks go forward in early September and back in early April. The Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica region (Punta Arenas) and the Aysén region (Coyhaique) do not change clocks and stay on UTC-3 all year.
- Why does Magallanes stay on UTC-3 permanently?
- The Magallanes region, in the far south, chose to stay on UTC-3 all year from December 2016 to keep more daylight in the evenings. The trade-off is late winter sunrises: in late June the sun rises around 10 AM in Punta Arenas.
- Is Easter Island in a different timezone from mainland Chile?
- Yes. Easter Island has always kept its own time. Since 1982 it has been two hours behind Santiago: UTC-6 in winter and UTC-5 in summer, changing clocks on the same dates as the mainland.
- Why were Coyhaique and Punta Arenas given separate timezones?
- Magallanes (Punta Arenas) stopped changing clocks and stayed on UTC-3 all year from December 2016, and the Aysén region (Coyhaique) did the same in March 2025. Both regions wanted more evening daylight rather than twice-yearly clock changes.
- How far ahead or behind is Chile compared to the US East Coast?
- Santiago is on the same time as New York from April to early September, one hour ahead from early September to early November and from mid-March to early April, and two hours ahead from November to mid-March.
- What is the westernmost timezone in Chile?
- Easter Island, at UTC-6, is the westernmost timezone in Chile, both geographically and by clock time. Mainland Chile uses UTC-4 or UTC-3, depending on the region and season.
- Has Chile ever abolished DST permanently?
- Chile tried to extend DST to be permanent in 2015 and 2016, effectively keeping UTC-3 year-round. The experiment was abandoned after one year due to public pressure — dark winter mornings caused problems for schoolchildren and commuter safety. Most of Chile went back to seasonal changes, but Magallanes (since 2016) and the Aysén region (since 2025) now stay on UTC-3 all year.
Source: IANA tzdb2026d · Reviewed
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