Moscow Time Now

What this page shows

So you want to know what time it is in Moscow right now. Maybe you have a call with someone in Russia, 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 Moscow and ticks forward every second, so there is nothing for you to work out by hand.

Wherever in the world you are reading this from, the clock tracks Moscow and keeps itself right on its own. And Moscow time is simpler than it once was, because it no longer changes through the year, as the next section explains.

Moscow no longer changes its clocks

Here is the part worth knowing about Moscow time. Russia used to change its clocks, and even spent a few years on permanent summer time, but it settled the matter in 2014 by moving to permanent standard time and dropping the seasonal change for good. So there is no spring forward and no fall back any more. Moscow stays on the same clock all year round, Moscow Time, three hours ahead of UTC.

So there are no change dates to track here. Whenever you look, Moscow is at UTC plus 3, and the clock above simply shows that time.

What time zone Moscow is in

Moscow runs on Moscow Time, three hours ahead of UTC, held every day of the year. That is the same offset as Istanbul to the south and the western Gulf states, so this north-south band keeps a common hour.

Moscow Time matters far beyond the city itself. Russia is the country with the most time zones in the world, eleven in all, stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific, and Moscow Time is the reference the whole span is counted from, the clock of the capital and the populous west. The country's railways and much of its official life have long run on Moscow Time regardless of local zone, so when Russians far to the east speak of the time in Moscow, they mean a clock that organises a good deal of national life.

Time difference from Moscow to other cities

Moscow 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 Europe and New York, shift by an hour against Moscow when they change. Here is the quick reference, assuming it is 12 noon in Moscow.

A few quick examples

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

Say it is 12 noon in Moscow. Dubai is an hour ahead at 1 in the afternoon, and Mumbai two and a half hours ahead at 2:30. Beijing is five hours ahead at 5 in the afternoon, all year, since none of these change their clocks.

Now the places that do change. In the European winter, Paris is two hours behind Moscow, at 10 in the morning, and London three hours behind, at 9. New York is eight hours behind, at 4 in the morning. When Europe and the US move to summer time, each of those gaps narrows by an hour, since Moscow holds still while they spring forward.

So for a call into Europe or the Americas that has to land just right, especially near the spring and autumn change dates, check the live clock rather than the rule of thumb.

A couple of things about Moscow time

Moscow sits far to the north, at about 56 degrees of latitude, so the length of the day swings hard across the year. Around midsummer there are roughly seventeen and a half hours between sunrise and sunset, with the long, light northern evenings, while around midwinter that drops to only about seven hours, with the sun low and the afternoons short.

On the clock-against-sun question, Moscow runs a little ahead of the sun. Moscow Time fits the 45 degree east line, and the city sits some way west of it, so the sun reaches its highest a little after 12 noon by the clock, at around half past twelve in the middle of the year. Having settled on standard time rather than permanent summer time, Moscow keeps a closer fit to the sun than some of its neighbours, and a steady one, since the clock never shifts.

Other places to compare

Moscow shares its offset with a north-south band of cities on UTC plus 3. Here are some to jump to:

• Istanbul time now, on the same offset
• Qatar time now, on the same offset
• Dubai time now, an hour ahead

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

Questions people ask

What time is it in Moscow right now?

The clock near the top of this page is the answer, and it updates every second. Russia no longer uses daylight saving, so Moscow stays on the same time all year, and the time shown is always correct.

Does Moscow change its clocks for daylight saving?

No, not since 2014. Russia moved to permanent standard time that year and dropped the seasonal change, so Moscow keeps Moscow Time, UTC plus 3, all year.

How many time zones does Russia have?

Eleven, the most of any country, stretching from the west to the Pacific coast. Moscow Time, UTC plus 3, is the reference the whole span is counted from.

What time zone is Moscow in?

Moscow Time, three hours ahead of UTC, held all year. It is the same offset as Istanbul and the western Gulf states.

What is the time difference between Moscow and New York?

New York is normally eight hours behind Moscow, or seven when New York is on summer time. The gap shifts because New York uses daylight saving and Russia does not.

What is the IANA name for Moscow time?

It is Europe/Moscow in the IANA time zone database, the time data your phone and your computer use. It holds a steady UTC plus 3, 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 Europe/Moscow identifier. https://www.iana.org/time-zones
2. Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Time Department, which maintains Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the reference Moscow Time is measured from. https://www.bipm.org/en/work-programme/time
3. International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), which governs UTC and the leap seconds that keep it aligned with the Earth's rotation. https://www.iers.org