Singapore Time Now

What this page shows

So you want to know what time it is in Singapore right now. Maybe you have a call with someone there, a flight to catch, a market open to track, 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 Singapore 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 Singapore and keeps itself right on its own. And Singapore time is simple, because it never changes through the year, as the next section explains.

Singapore does not change its clocks

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

Sitting almost on the equator, Singapore has little reason to shift its clocks for the seasons in the first place, since the daylight barely changes through the year. So there are no change dates to track. Whenever you look, Singapore is at UTC plus 8, and the clock above simply shows that time.

What time zone Singapore is in

Singapore runs on Singapore Standard Time, eight hours ahead of UTC, held every day of the year. It shares that offset with Hong Kong, mainland China, and the rest of this part of Asia.

Singapore has not always kept this clock, though. Until 1982 it ran half an hour behind, at UTC plus 7 and a half, which suited its position better. Then it moved its clocks forward by thirty minutes to UTC plus 8, to line up with peninsular Malaysia just across the strait and keep a single shared time in the region. The result is a clock that now runs a fair way ahead of the sun, as the facts below explain.

Time difference from Singapore to other cities

Singapore 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 Singapore between their winter and summer. Here is the quick reference, assuming it is 12 noon in Singapore.

A few quick examples

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

Say it is 12 noon in Singapore. Hong Kong reads the same, 12 noon, as does Beijing. 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 Singapore, 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 Singapore lands in the small hours across Europe and the Americas.

Because those places use daylight saving and Singapore 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 Singapore time

Singapore sits almost exactly on the equator, at about one degree north, which gives it the most even daylight of just about any city. The length of the day barely moves through the year, holding close to twelve hours from one month to the next, with the sun rising around 7 in the morning and setting around 7 in the evening whatever the season. There is no long summer evening and no short winter afternoon, just a steady tropical day.

On the clock-against-sun question, Singapore runs well ahead of the sun, a legacy of the 1982 move to UTC plus 8. The clock sits more than an hour ahead of where the city's longitude would put it, so the sun reaches its highest at around 1 in the afternoon by the clock rather than at noon. It is why sunset feels late here for a place on the equator, landing closer to 7 than the 6 you might expect.

Other places on the same time

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

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

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

Questions people ask

What time is it in Singapore right now?

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

Does Singapore change its clocks for daylight saving?

No. Sitting on the equator, where daylight barely changes, Singapore has no need to, and it keeps Singapore Standard Time, UTC plus 8, all year with no seasonal change.

Was Singapore always on UTC plus 8?

No. Until 1982 it ran half an hour behind, at UTC plus 7 and a half. It then moved its clocks forward by thirty minutes to UTC plus 8, to line up with peninsular Malaysia.

What time zone is Singapore in?

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

What is the time difference between Singapore and New York?

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

What is the IANA name for Singapore time?

It is Asia/Singapore 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/Singapore identifier. https://www.iana.org/time-zones
2. National Metrology Centre, A*STAR, which keeps and disseminates Singapore Standard Time. https://www.a-star.edu.sg
3. Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Time Department, which maintains Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the reference Singapore Standard Time is measured from. https://www.bipm.org/en/work-programme/time