UTC Time Zone Offsets

140 time zone abbreviations compared with UTC

Abbreviation	Name	Offset	vs UTC	In use now
BIT	Baker Island Time	UTC−12	12 hours behind	Yes
SST	Samoa Standard Time	UTC−11	11 hours behind	Yes
HAST	Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time	UTC−10	10 hours behind	No
HST	Hawaii Standard Time	UTC−10	10 hours behind	Yes
MART	Marquesas Time	UTC−9:30	9.5 hours behind	Yes
AKST	Alaska Standard Time	UTC−9	9 hours behind	No
HDT	Hawaii–Aleutian Daylight Time	UTC−9	9 hours behind	Yes
AKDT	Alaska Daylight Time	UTC−8	8 hours behind	Yes
PST	Pacific Standard Time	UTC−8	8 hours behind	No
MST	Mountain Standard Time	UTC−7	7 hours behind	No
PDT	Pacific Daylight Time	UTC−7	7 hours behind	Yes
CST	Central Standard Time	UTC−6	6 hours behind	No
MDT	Mountain Daylight Time	UTC−6	6 hours behind	Yes
CDT	Central Daylight Time	UTC−5	5 hours behind	Yes
EST	Eastern Standard Time	UTC−5	5 hours behind	No
AST	Atlantic Standard Time	UTC−4	4 hours behind	Yes
AST	Atlantic Standard Time	UTC−4	4 hours behind	No
BOT	Bolivia Time	UTC−4	4 hours behind	Yes
CLT	Chile Standard Time	UTC−4	4 hours behind	No
EDT	Eastern Daylight Time	UTC−4	4 hours behind	Yes
VET	Venezuelan Standard Time	UTC−4	4 hours behind	Yes
ADT	Atlantic Daylight Time	UTC−3	3 hours behind	Yes
ART	Argentina Time	UTC−3	3 hours behind	Yes
BRT	Brasília Time	UTC−3	3 hours behind	Yes

What a UTC offset actually measures

An offset is the arithmetic gap, in hours and minutes, between a location’s local time and Coordinated Universal Time. It is a number, not a set of rules. On 15 January 2026:

London is at UTC+0 (same as UTC)
Paris is at UTC+1
Dubai is at UTC+4
Mumbai is at UTC+5:30
Tokyo is at UTC+9
New York is at UTC-5
Los Angeles is at UTC-8

On 15 July 2026 those numbers shift for places that observe daylight saving time. London becomes UTC+1, Paris becomes UTC+2, New York becomes UTC-4, Los Angeles becomes UTC-7. Dubai, Mumbai and Tokyo do not observe DST and stay fixed.

The distinction matters. An offset is a simple difference. A time zone is the full rulebook: when DST starts and ends, what the offset is at each point, and any historical changes for a given region. See the UTC offset explained page for more.

Every UTC offset from UTC-12 to UTC+14

The full range of offsets used on Earth runs from UTC-12 to UTC+14. No inhabited land uses UTC-12 or UTC+14 all twelve months, but both exist for maritime and military purposes.

Offset	Example location (winter time)	Notes
UTC-12	Baker Island, Howland Island	Uninhabited; maritime zone
UTC-11	American Samoa, Niue
UTC-10	Hawaii, Cook Islands, Papeete
UTC-9	Alaska (most of), Marquesas	Marquesas uses UTC-9:30
UTC-8	Los Angeles, Vancouver, Tijuana	Pacific Time in winter
UTC-7	Denver, Phoenix, Edmonton	Mountain Time in winter; Phoenix stays fixed
UTC-6	Chicago, Mexico City, Winnipeg	Central Time in winter
UTC-5	New York, Bogotá, Lima	Eastern Time in winter; Bogotá, Lima stay fixed
UTC-4	Santiago, Halifax, Caracas	Atlantic Time in winter; most of Chile stays fixed
UTC-3	São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Montevideo	Most of Brazil, Argentina stay fixed
UTC-2	South Georgia, Fernando de Noronha	Small Atlantic territories
UTC-1	Azores (winter), Cape Verde	Cape Verde stays fixed
UTC+0	London (winter), Reykjavik, Accra	Iceland, West Africa stay fixed
UTC+1	Paris (winter), Lagos, Kinshasa	Central European Time in winter; West Africa stays fixed
UTC+2	Johannesburg, Cairo, Athens (winter)	South Africa stays fixed; Eastern European Time in winter
UTC+3	Moscow, Nairobi, Baghdad	East Africa Time fixed; Moscow Time fixed
UTC+3:30	Iran	Half-hour offset
UTC+4	Dubai, Baku, Samara
UTC+4:30	Afghanistan	Half-hour offset
UTC+5	Karachi, Yekaterinburg, Tashkent
UTC+5:30	Mumbai, Colombo, New Delhi	Half-hour offset
UTC+5:45	Kathmandu	Quarter-hour offset
UTC+6	Dhaka, Omsk, Almaty
UTC+6:30	Yangon, Cocos Islands	Half-hour offset
UTC+7	Bangkok, Jakarta, Krasnoyarsk
UTC+8	Singapore, Beijing, Perth	China Standard Time fixed
UTC+8:45	Eucla (Australia)	Quarter-hour offset
UTC+9	Tokyo, Seoul, Yakutsk
UTC+9:30	Adelaide, Darwin	Half-hour offset; Adelaide switches to UTC+10:30 in DST
UTC+10	Sydney (winter), Guam, Vladivostok
UTC+10:30	Lord Howe Island	Half-hour offset
UTC+11	Solomon Islands, Nouméa, Magadan
UTC+12	Fiji, Auckland, Kamchatka
UTC+12:45	Chatham Islands	Quarter-hour offset
UTC+13	Tonga, Phoenix Islands
UTC+14	Kiribati (Line Islands)	Easternmost inhabited zone

Half-hour and quarter-hour offsets

Most offsets are whole hours, but several countries and territories use fractional offsets. The most notable:

UTC+5:30, India Standard Time (IST), used by over 1.4 billion people across India and Sri Lanka. See IST Time Now.
UTC+5:45, Nepal Time, the only quarter-hour offset used by a full country.
UTC+8:45, Eucla (Australia), unofficial but used in roadhouses and local businesses.
UTC+12:45, Chatham Islands (New Zealand), quarter-hour offset.
UTC+9:30, Australian Central Standard Time (South Australia, Northern Territory).
UTC+3:30, Iran Standard Time.
UTC+4:30, Afghanistan Time.
UTC+6:30, Myanmar Time and Cocos Islands.

These exist because of political decisions, historical convenience, or geographic position. They are not errors.

How offsets map to time zone abbreviations

A single offset can map to multiple abbreviations, and a single abbreviation can map to multiple offsets. Examples:

UTC-5 is used by Eastern Standard Time (EST), Cuba Standard Time (CST), and Colombia Standard Time (COT).
UTC+8 is used by China Standard Time (CST), Singapore Time (SGT), Hong Kong Time (HKT), Australian Western Standard Time (AWST), and Philippine Standard Time (PHST).
UTC+1 is used by Central European Time (CET), West Africa Time (WAT), and British Summer Time (BST).

The full set of abbreviations and their offsets is on the time zone abbreviations page.

Why one offset gets multiple abbreviations

Two reasons. First, daylight saving time: a location may use one abbreviation in winter and a different one in summer. New York uses EST (UTC-5) in January and EDT (UTC-4) in July. Second, political boundaries: China, Singapore, Malaysia and Perth all use UTC+8 but call their time zones different names because they are different countries.

The rule: the abbreviation tells you the name of the offset period, not the offset itself. Always check the numeric offset.

Daylight saving: when offsets change

Daylight saving time is the main reason a single city appears at two different offsets in this list. On 15 January 2026:

New York is at UTC-5 (EST)
London is at UTC+0 (GMT)

On 15 July 2026:

New York is at UTC-4 (EDT)
London is at UTC+1 (BST)

The UTC offset changes. The time zone (the set of rules) stays the same, but the offset applied at a given date does not. This is why the UTC converter tool needs both a time and a date to give the correct result.

Places that never observe DST, Dubai, Mumbai, Tokyo, Johannesburg, São Paulo, use the same offset all twelve months. Their entry in the table above is their only offset.

Finding your offset in the table

If you know your location, find its winter offset in the table above. Then check whether your location observes DST and, if so, whether DST is currently in effect. The difference is usually +1 hour in summer.

For example, a user in Sydney: winter offset UTC+10, DST offset UTC+11. In January (southern hemisphere summer) Sydney is at UTC+11. In July (winter) it is at UTC+10.

The list above covers every offset that exists on land, from UTC-12 (Baker Island) to UTC+14 (Kiribati).

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a UTC offset and a time zone?

A UTC offset is a number, how many hours ahead or behind UTC a place is right now. A time zone includes the offset plus the rules for when it changes (DST start and end dates, historical changes). Two places can share the same offset but be in different time zones.

Why do some countries use half-hour or quarter-hour offsets?

Historical and political reasons. India chose UTC+5:30 to balance its geographic position. Nepal uses UTC+5:45 to differentiate from India. These offsets are codified in law and the IANA time zone database.

Does the UTC offset change for everyone in summer?

No. Only locations that observe daylight saving time change their offset. Many populous regions, China, India, Japan, most of Africa, most of South America, do not change.

How do I convert a time using an offset?

Take the local time, add the offset if it is behind UTC (negative) or subtract it if ahead (positive). For example, 14:00 UTC minus 5 hours (New York in January) is 09:00. The UTC converter does this automatically.

What is the maximum and minimum UTC offset on Earth?

The maximum is UTC+14 (Kiribati Line Islands). The minimum is UTC-12 (Baker Island, Howland Island). No inhabited place uses UTC-12 all twelve months.

Why does the same abbreviation (like CST) appear for different offsets?

CST can mean Central Standard Time (UTC-6), China Standard Time (UTC+8), or Cuba Standard Time (UTC-5). Always check the numeric offset to avoid confusion.

UTC Offsets to Every Time Zone