Europe · Southeast Europe · Sovereign state
Current time in Croatia
A single time zone at UTC+02:00. Currently observing daylight saving time.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
About Croatia's time
A single time zone.
Croatia uses a single time zone: Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) during the warmer months and Central European Time (UTC+1) in winter. Like most of continental Europe, Croatia observes Daylight Saving Time, so clocks spring forward and fall back along with the rest of the bloc.
Next clock change
2026 Sunday · clocks fall back
Clocks fall back by one hour · next week.
Daylight saving schedule
Major cities
Cities of Croatia.
History
How Croatia keeps time.
Croatia’s timekeeping has historically been tied to Central European Time. During the 19th century, as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the territory that is now Croatia adopted Central European Time (CET, UTC+1:00), which was formalized across the empire in 1891. This established Zagreb and surrounding regions firmly within the Central European time framework.
In the 20th century, Croatia continued under this system through various political changes, including periods as part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and later socialist Yugoslavia. Daylight Saving Time was introduced intermittently, but it became more consistently applied from the 1980s onward.
Following independence in 1991, Croatia retained CET and CEST without major disruption. There have been no significant reforms or switches; the time system has remained stable, and Croatia continues to follow EU-wide rules on the start and end of DST.
Did you know?
Things about Croatia's time.
Croatia’s time system is largely unremarkable compared to some of its neighbors, but there is one notable issue: solar time misalignment. Most of Croatia lies east of the 15°E meridian that Central European Time is based on. In Zagreb, solar noon falls between about 11:40 AM and 12:10 PM on standard time and close to 1:00 PM during summer time; in midwinter the sun rises around 7:30 AM, and in midsummer it sets around 8:50 PM.
Another point of interest is Croatia’s strong coordination with the rest of the EU. Its adherence to synchronized DST transitions reflects both practical alignment with key economic partners—especially Germany and Italy—and broader regulatory conformity with EU practices. Even as debates about ending DST continue across Europe, Croatia is expected to follow whatever continental consensus emerges.
Convert
Croatia to the world's clocks.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Croatia'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 time zone in Croatia?
- Croatia uses a single time zone: Central European Time (UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) during the Daylight Saving period.
- Does Croatia observe Daylight Saving Time?
- Yes. Like most EU countries, Croatia moves to CEST (UTC+2) in summer and returns to CET (UTC+1) in winter, following the EU-wide schedule.
- When does Croatia change its clocks?
- Clocks go forward one hour in spring (usually the last Sunday in March) and back one hour in autumn (usually the last Sunday in October), matching the standard EU transition dates.
- Is Croatia in the same time zone as Italy or Austria?
- Yes. During winter, Croatia shares CET with countries like Italy and Austria. During summer, all three switch to CEST at the same time.
- What city is used as the reference for Croatia’s time zone?
- The capital, Zagreb, is the reference city for Croatia's time zone in computer and phone time settings; one time zone covers the entire country.
- Will Croatia ever stop using Daylight Saving Time?
- It’s possible, but no decision has been finalized. Any changes would likely follow an EU-wide agreement, as Croatia aligns its time practices with the rest of the bloc.
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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