Oceania · Melanesia · Sovereign state
Current time in Papua New Guinea
Spans 2 time zones from UTC+10:00 to UTC+11:00, a 1-hour difference.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
About Papua New Guinea's time
2 time zones.
Papua New Guinea uses two time zones: UTC+10 for most of the country and UTC+11 for the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in the east. Neither zone observes daylight saving time.
By time zone
Time zones of Papua New Guinea.
2 time zones
Major cities
Cities of Papua New Guinea.
History
How Papua New Guinea keeps time.
Before the establishment of Standard Time in Papua New Guinea (PNG), each location used its own local mean time based on its longitude. This became impractical as the country developed internal and international links.
UTC+10:00 has been used since 1895, apart from Bougainville's spell on UTC+09:00 during the Japanese occupation of 1942–1945. On 28 December 2014 the Autonomous Region of Bougainville officially moved its clocks forward to UTC+11:00.
Timezone databases added a separate Bougainville zone at that time. This reflects PNG’s geographic span and its political geography rather than a history of frequent clock changes.
Did you know?
Things about Papua New Guinea's time.
Papua New Guinea’s second time zone exists mainly because of Bougainville’s political autonomy and its geographic position far to the east of the mainland.
Bougainville’s UTC+11:00 matches its neighbor, the Solomon Islands, and puts its clocks one hour ahead of the capital, Port Moresby.
The country’s time structure doesn’t change for DST or seasonal reasons; differences are purely geographic and political.
For internal coordination (flights, radio/TV schedules, government communications), it’s important to know whether a location is on Bougainville time or Port Moresby time, especially for agencies operating nationwide.
Convert
Papua New Guinea to the world's clocks.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Papua New Guinea's time zone, daylight saving rules, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- How many time zones does Papua New Guinea have?
- Papua New Guinea uses two time zones: UTC+10 (Port Moresby time) and UTC+11 (Bougainville time). The rest of the country outside Bougainville follows Port Moresby time.
- What is the time difference between Port Moresby and Bougainville?
- Bougainville is one hour ahead of Port Moresby. When it is 10:00 in Port Moresby (UTC+10), it is 11:00 in Bougainville (UTC+11).
- Does Papua New Guinea observe daylight saving time?
- No. Papua New Guinea does not observe daylight saving time. Both UTC+10 and UTC+11 zones stay on the same offsets all year.
- What is the default time zone for Papua New Guinea?
- The default and most widely used time zone is Port Moresby time (UTC+10). Most of the mainland and islands outside Bougainville use this zone.
- Why does Bougainville have a different time zone from the rest of Papua New Guinea?
- Bougainville lies far to the east and has a distinct political status as an autonomous region. Its time zone reflects both its geographic position and its separate administrative arrangements.
- Is Bougainville time the same as any other countries or territories?
- Bougainville’s UTC+11 time is the same as the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, but within Papua New Guinea, only Bougainville uses UTC+11.
- Are there other exceptions or areas with special time rules in Papua New Guinea?
- The main exception is Bougainville with UTC+11. Outside of that, the rest of PNG follows Port Moresby time (UTC+10) with no daylight saving adjustments.
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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