Manila Time Now

What this page shows

So you want to know what time it is in Manila right now. Maybe you have a call with someone in the Philippines, a flight to catch, a match kicking off on local time, or someone to reach before their evening is over. That is what the clock at the top of this page is for. It shows the current time in Manila and ticks forward every second, so there is nothing for you to work out by hand.

The Philippines keeps a single time zone across all its islands, so this clock is good for the whole country. Wherever in the world you are reading from, it keeps itself right on its own, and it is simple, because Manila time never changes through the year.

Manila does not change its clocks

Here is the part worth knowing about Manila time, and it makes things easy. The Philippines does not use daylight saving. There is no spring forward and no fall back, so Manila stays on the same clock all year round, Philippine Standard Time, eight hours ahead of UTC.

The country tried daylight saving a handful of times long ago, but it has not used it in decades. Sitting in the tropics, where daylight changes little through the year, there is little reason to. So there are no change dates to track. Whenever you look, Manila is at UTC plus 8, and the clock above simply shows that time.

What time zone Manila is in

Manila runs on Philippine Standard Time, eight hours ahead of UTC, held every day of the year. It shares that offset with Hong Kong, Singapore, and mainland China, so this whole part of Asia keeps a common clock.

The notable thing about Philippine time is its reach. The Philippines is an archipelago of more than seven thousand islands, spread across a fair stretch of sea, yet the whole country keeps this one clock, from the northern tip of Luzon down to the southern islands of Mindanao. Manila, the capital, sits near the line of longitude the clock is built on, so here the time and the sun stay closely in step.

Time difference from Manila to other cities

Manila never changes its clocks, so the gap to other fixed-offset places stays the same all year. The places that do use daylight saving, like London and New York, shift by an hour against Manila between their winter and summer. Here is the quick reference, assuming it is 12 noon in Manila.

A few quick examples

Let us run a few, so you can see how this works.

Say it is 12 noon in Manila. Singapore reads the same, 12 noon, as does Hong Kong. Tokyo and Seoul are an hour ahead at 1 in the afternoon, while Mumbai is two and a half hours behind at 9:30 in the morning.

Now the long hauls west. In the winter, London is eight hours behind Manila, so 12 noon here is 4 in the morning in London, and New York, thirteen hours behind, is still at 11 the previous evening. Midday in Manila lands in the small hours across Europe and the Americas.

Because those places use daylight saving and the Philippines does not, the gap shifts by an hour in their summer. London moves to seven hours behind and New York to twelve. So for a call that has to land just right, check the live clock rather than the rule of thumb.

A couple of things about Manila time

Manila sits in the tropics, at about 15 degrees north, so the length of the day stays fairly even through the year. Around midsummer there are roughly twelve and three quarter hours between sunrise and sunset, and around midwinter still about eleven and a quarter, a gentle swing with no long evenings or short afternoons to speak of.

On the clock-against-sun question, Manila is a close match, closer than most of its UTC plus 8 neighbours. The capital sits almost exactly on the line of longitude the clock is built on, so the sun reaches its highest within a few minutes of 12 noon by the clock. The match is at its best near Manila; the islands further east or west see the sun run a touch early or late against the shared national clock.

Other places on the same time

A good few places keep the same time as Manila on UTC plus 8. Here are some to jump to:

• Singapore time now, also UTC plus 8
• Hong Kong time now, also UTC plus 8
• Beijing time now, also UTC plus 8

And if it is the global reference Manila is measured from that you are after, see UTC Time Now.

Questions people ask

What time is it in Manila right now?

The clock near the top of this page is the answer, and it updates every second. The Philippines does not use daylight saving, so Manila stays on the same time all year, and the time shown is always correct.

Does Manila change its clocks for daylight saving?

No. The Philippines tried it a handful of times long ago but has not used it in decades. Manila stays on Philippine Standard Time, UTC plus 8, all year with no seasonal change.

Does all of the Philippines have the same time?

Yes. The whole country keeps a single zone, Philippine Standard Time, across all of its more than seven thousand islands, from Luzon in the north to Mindanao in the south.

What time zone is Manila in?

Philippine Standard Time, eight hours ahead of UTC, held all year. It is the same offset as Singapore, Hong Kong, and mainland China.

What is the time difference between Manila and New York?

New York is normally thirteen hours behind Manila, or twelve when New York is on summer time. The gap shifts because New York uses daylight saving and the Philippines does not.

What is the IANA name for Manila time?

It is Asia/Manila in the IANA time zone database, the time data your phone and your computer use. It holds a steady UTC plus 8, and it is what drives the live clock on this page.

References

1. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Time Zone Database (the tz database), home of the Asia/Manila identifier. https://www.iana.org/time-zones
2. Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), which keeps and disseminates Philippine Standard Time. https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph
3. Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Time Department, which maintains Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the reference Philippine Standard Time is measured from. https://www.bipm.org/en/work-programme/time