Africa · Northern Africa · Sovereign state
Current time in Egypt
A single time zone at UTC+03:00. Currently observing daylight saving time.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
About Egypt's time
A single time zone.
Egypt observes a single time zone, UTC+02:00 (Eastern European Time), with nationwide daylight saving time moving clocks to UTC+03:00 from the last Friday in April to the last Thursday in October — a practice that has been suspended and restored many times over the decades.
Next clock change
2026 Thursday · clocks fall back
Clocks fall back by one hour · in 2 weeks.
Daylight saving schedule
Major cities
Cities of Egypt.
History
How Egypt keeps time.
Egypt adopted Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00) on 1 October 1900, during the British occupation. Before that, local solar time was used in practice. The country first observed summer time during World War II, from 1940 to 1945, and brought it back from 1957. However, Egypt's relationship with DST has been turbulent — the practice was suspended multiple times, notably during Ramadan, when longer fasting hours were politically sensitive.
In 2011, after the revolution, Egypt dropped DST. It was reintroduced in May 2014, paused for Ramadan that summer, and then dropped again after September 2014; a planned return in 2016 was cancelled days before it was due to start. In 2023 Egypt brought DST back, moving clocks from UTC+02:00 to UTC+03:00 between the last Friday in April and the last Thursday in October. Throughout all of this, the country has used a single time zone.
Did you know?
Things about Egypt's time.
Cairo lies close to 30°E, the meridian UTC+02:00 is based on, so in standard time the sun is highest within about 20 minutes of 12:00; during summer time solar noon shifts to around 12:40–1:00 PM.
Egypt reinstated daylight saving time in 2023, after going without it since 2014, and the government presented the change as an energy-saving measure, though actual energy savings from DST remain debatable.
Despite having a single timezone, Egypt has occasionally seen time-related confusion because of the frequent policy reversals about summer time. Each change required updates to digital infrastructure, flight schedules, and broadcast timetables — sometimes with only days of advance notice.
Convert
Egypt to the world's clocks.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Egypt's time zone, daylight saving rules, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Does Egypt observe Daylight Saving Time?
- Yes. Egypt brought daylight saving time back in 2023: clocks move from UTC+02:00 (EET) to UTC+03:00 (EEST) on the last Friday in April and back on the last Thursday in October. Before that, DST was applied inconsistently, sometimes suspended just days before starting.
- What is the time difference between Egypt and the rest of North Africa?
- Egypt is one hour ahead of Tunisia and Algeria (both UTC+01:00) in winter and two hours ahead while Egypt is on summer time. It is one hour behind Saudi Arabia (UTC+03:00) in winter and level with it in summer, and two hours behind the UAE (UTC+04:00) in winter, one hour in summer.
- Is my phone's clock going to change when I visit Egypt?
- Your device should switch to Egyptian time automatically once you connect to a local network after arrival. Egypt also changes its clocks twice a year: since 2023 it moves from UTC+02:00 to UTC+03:00 on the last Friday in April and back on the last Thursday in October.
- How many timezones does Egypt use?
- Egypt uses a single time zone, Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00, UTC+03:00 in summer), across the entire country, including the Sinai Peninsula and all governorates.
- Is GMT the timezone in Egypt?
- No. Egypt’s standard time is UTC+02:00 (EET), two hours ahead of GMT, and from the last Friday in April to the last Thursday in October it moves to UTC+03:00 for daylight saving time.
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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