What time zone is Istanbul in?

Istanbul uses the Europe/Istanbul (TRT) time zone and is currently on UTC+03:00.

Does Istanbul observe daylight saving time?

No. Istanbul stays on UTC+03:00 all year. Daylight saving time was last used there in 2015.

Current time in Istanbul

World time board

Istanbul · TurkeyUTC+03:00

08:31 AM

FRI 02.10.2026

Now 08:31 AM|Live

ISTANBULUTC+03:00Turkey

08:31 AMFri 02.10

THU 01.10FRI 02.10SAT 03.10SUN 04.10

Drag or scroll · click an hour · ◀ ▶ by hour · 3 days of range

Work–

daydawn / dusknight

Time zone: Europe/Istanbul
UTC offset: UTC+03:00
Abbreviation: TRT
Daylight saving time: Not observed
Country: Türkiye
Population: 15,701,602

Istanbul time difference

How far Istanbul is ahead of or behind the world's main business hubs right now. Daylight saving time is already applied where it is in effect.

Compared with	Time difference	UTC offset
London	2h behindChanges with DST	UTC+01:00
New York City	7h behindChanges with DST	UTC-04:00
Los Angeles	10h behindChanges with DST	UTC-07:00
Chicago	8h behindChanges with DST	UTC-05:00
Tokyo	6h ahead	UTC+09:00
Dubai	1h ahead	UTC+04:00

Clock changes in Istanbul

Istanbul does not change its clocks: UTC+03:00 applies all year.

Sunrise, sunset and solar time in Istanbul

Sunrise today: 7:01 AM
Sunset today: 6:45 PM
Day length today: 11 hours 43 minutes
Solar noon today: 12:53 PM
Longest day: 15 hours 8 minutes (June 21)
Shortest day: 9 hours 13 minutes (December 21)

On standard time, clocks in Istanbul run 1 hour 4 minutes ahead of the sun: solar noon comes at about 1:04 PM, not at 12:00 PM.

Time zone history since 1970

Seasonal clock changes: 1973–1977, 1983–2015. The last one was on November 8, 2015.

The current offset, UTC+03:00, has applied since March 27, 2016.

Changes outside the seasonal pattern:

April 2, 1978: UTC+02:00 → UTC+03:00
November 1, 1984: UTC+03:00 → UTC+02:00
March 27, 2016: UTC+02:00 → UTC+03:00

Source: IANA time zone database, version 2025b.

Worth knowing

Turkey stopped changing its clocks in 2016: summer time began in March that year and was kept permanently. Istanbul has been on UTC+3 all year since — the same as Moscow, and an hour ahead of Athens in winter.

Sources: IANA tz database: europe

Frequently asked questions

What time zone is Istanbul in?: Istanbul uses the Europe/Istanbul (TRT) time zone and is currently on UTC+03:00.
Does Istanbul observe daylight saving time?: No. Istanbul stays on UTC+03:00 all year. Daylight saving time was last used there in 2015.