Pakistan Time Zone (PKT): UTC+5 and No Daylight Saving

Pakistan uses one time zone for the whole country: Pakistan Standard Time (PKT), UTC+5. Clocks do not change for summer, so PKT is UTC+5 all year round. When it is 12:00 noon in Karachi, it is 07:00 UTC, and the same time in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Gilgit.

No daylight saving time

Pakistan does not use daylight saving time. It has tried it three times: in 2002, 2008 and 2009, clocks were moved forward one hour for part of the summer to save electricity. The experiment was not continued, and Pakistan has stayed on UTC+5 without seasonal changes since.

That means the difference between Pakistan and countries that do use daylight saving changes twice a year, even though nothing changes in Pakistan. This catches many people out when scheduling calls with family in the UK or USA.

Countries with daylight saving

“Winter” and “summer” here mean the local season of each city. The changes happen on these dates:

• UK and most of Europe: summer time runs from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.
• USA and Canada: daylight time runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
• Sydney (New South Wales): daylight time runs from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, because the southern hemisphere’s summer is the northern winter.

Because the US and UK switch on different dates, there are about three weeks in March and one week around the end of October when the gap between London and New York is four hours instead of five. During those weeks the gap between Pakistan and New York is also an hour different from what you might expect.

Countries with a fixed offset

The Gulf states, India and China don’t use daylight saving either, so their difference from Pakistan stays the same all year.

The half-hour difference with India surprises many people. When it is 9:00 AM in Lahore, it is 9:30 AM in Amritsar, just across the border.

Worked examples

• Calling London in January: 8:00 PM in Karachi is 3:00 PM in London (5 hours behind).
• Calling London in July: 8:00 PM in Karachi is 4:00 PM in London (4 hours behind, because of British Summer Time).
• A New York meeting at 10:00 AM EDT in June is 7:00 PM in Pakistan. The same 10:00 AM meeting in December (EST) is 8:00 PM in Pakistan.
• Dubai shift starting 9:00 AM is 10:00 AM in Pakistan, all year.
• Riyadh: when Pakistan breaks the fast at 6:30 PM, it is 4:30 PM in Riyadh.

Why one time zone?

Pakistan spans roughly 61° to 77° east longitude. Solar time across that range differs by about an hour, so sunrise in Gwadar is noticeably later by the clock than in Lahore. A single zone keeps business, broadcasting and transport simple, and it’s why prayer times in western cities such as Quetta are later than in eastern ones. You can compare them on the prayer times page.

Tools to save the maths

Use the time converter to convert a meeting time between Pakistan and any city, the world time zones page to see several clocks at once, and local time to check the current time anywhere.

Frequently asked questions