Time in Nairobi
Nairobi uses East Africa Time, UTC+3, all year round with no daylight saving. It is three hours ahead of London in winter, two hours ahead during British Summer Time.
- Time zone
- —
- Abbreviation
- —
- UTC offset
- —
- Daylight saving
- —
- Compared with your clock
- —
- IANA time zone:
- Africa/Nairobi
- Country:
- Kenya
- Coordinates:
- 1.29° S, 36.82° E
- Clock changes in 2026:
- none, UTC+3 all year
Swahili time: counting from dawn
Clocks in Nairobi show standard time, but in everyday Swahili the hours are often counted from sunrise rather than midnight. Saa moja, the first hour, means 7:00 AM; saa nne, the fourth hour, means 10:00 AM; and saa sita is noon. The system makes sense on the equator, where the sun rises at about the same time all year. When someone in Kenya or Tanzania gives you a time, it is worth checking which convention they mean.
Kenya settled on UTC+3 in 1942 after trying half-hour and quarter-hour offsets, UTC+2:30 and UTC+2:45, in the 1930s. Today Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Somalia share the same zone.
When to call Nairobi
Hours that fall inside 9:00–17:00 both in Nairobi and in the other city, using today's offsets.
Daylight in Nairobi
Monday, October 19, 2026, local time
- Sunrise
- 6:13 AM
- Sunset
- 6:21 PM
- Day length
- 12 h 9 min
- Solar noon
- 12:17 PM
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Oct 19 | 6:13 AM | 6:21 PM | 12 h 9 min |
| Tue, Oct 20 | 6:13 AM | 6:21 PM | 12 h 9 min |
| Wed, Oct 21 | 6:13 AM | 6:21 PM | 12 h 9 min |
| Thu, Oct 22 | 6:12 AM | 6:21 PM | 12 h 9 min |
| Fri, Oct 23 | 6:12 AM | 6:21 PM | 12 h 9 min |
| Sat, Oct 24 | 6:12 AM | 6:21 PM | 12 h 9 min |
| Sun, Oct 25 | 6:12 AM | 6:21 PM | 12 h 9 min |
Approximate times (usually within two minutes), calculated from the city's coordinates with the NOAA solar equations. Hills, tall buildings and unusual air refraction can shift what you see.
Sunrise and sunset on the equator
Nairobi lies just 1.3° south of the equator, so day length barely changes: about 12 hours 3 minutes in June and 12 hours 12 minutes in December. Sunrise stays between roughly 6:10 and 6:45 AM through the year and sunset between about 6:15 and 6:50 PM, the small drift coming from the equation of time rather than the seasons. At 1,795 meters, mornings are cool even when afternoons are warm.
Business hours and calls
Offices usually open from 8:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday. The Nairobi Securities Exchange trades from 9:00 to 15:00. Nairobi is eight hours ahead of New York during US standard time and seven hours ahead from March to November, which means a 9:00 AM New York call is 4:00 or 5:00 PM in Nairobi. Mornings in Nairobi overlap well with the Gulf, India and Europe. Use the time zone converter for any other pairing, or compare with nearby capitals on the world clock.
Nearby cities and their time
| Nearby cities | Distance | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg South Africa | 2,920 km | −1 h |
| Riyadh Saudi Arabia | 3,080 km | same time |
| Doha Qatar | 3,350 km | same time |
| Cairo Egypt | 3,530 km | same time |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 3,550 km | +1 h |
| Tel Aviv Israel | 3,720 km | same time |
Time zone converters for Nairobi
Frequently asked questions
- What is Swahili time?
- A way of counting hours from sunrise instead of midnight. 7:00 AM is the first hour, saa moja, and 1:00 PM is the seventh hour, saa saba. Clocks and timetables use standard time.
- Does Kenya observe daylight saving time?
- No. Kenya stays on East Africa Time, UTC+3, all year. On the equator the day is about 12 hours long in every season.
- How many hours is Nairobi ahead of New York?
- Eight hours from November to March and seven hours while New York is on daylight saving time.
- Which countries share Nairobi's time zone?
- East Africa Time is used in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia and several other countries, and it matches the UTC+3 used in Saudi Arabia and Moscow.