Time ZonesAbout this time zone
All of Sri Lanka keeps one time. Computers and phones know it by the zone name Asia/Colombo. Its time is UTC+5:30, which means it is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) all year round. Compared with India (IST), it is the same as India.
Clock changes in 2026 and 2027
Sri Lanka does not change its clocks in 2026 or 2027. The time stays at UTC+5:30 all year, so there is no daylight saving time to remember.
Time difference with major cities
| When it is 12:00 noon in Sri Lanka, it is | In January 2026 | In July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| India | 12:00 pmsame time | 12:00 pmsame time |
| United Kingdom | 6:30 am5 hours 30 minutes behind | 7:30 am4 hours 30 minutes behind |
| France | 7:30 am4 hours 30 minutes behind | 8:30 am3 hours 30 minutes behind |
| New York, United States | 1:30 am10 hours 30 minutes behind | 2:30 am9 hours 30 minutes behind |
| Chicago, United States | 12:30 am11 hours 30 minutes behind | 1:30 am10 hours 30 minutes behind |
| Los Angeles, United States | 10:30 pm previous day13 hours 30 minutes behind | 11:30 pm previous day12 hours 30 minutes behind |
| United Arab Emirates | 10:30 am1 hour 30 minutes behind | 10:30 am1 hour 30 minutes behind |
| Singapore | 2:30 pm2 hours 30 minutes ahead | 2:30 pm2 hours 30 minutes ahead |
| Japan | 3:30 pm3 hours 30 minutes ahead | 3:30 pm3 hours 30 minutes ahead |
| Sydney, Australia | 5:30 pm5 hours 30 minutes ahead | 4:30 pm4 hours 30 minutes ahead |
The table uses the offsets in force in mid January and mid July 2026. Use the converter for any other date.
Clock time and sun time in Sri Lanka
A time zone is an agreement, and the sun does not follow it exactly. Colombo, the largest city in this zone, lies at about 79.8° east. Each degree of longitude is worth four minutes, so by the sun alone its time would be about 5 hours 19 minutes ahead of UTC. The clock is set to UTC+5:30. The sun is therefore highest in the sky at about 12:11 pm by the clock, not at 12:00. That is a close match: clock and sun agree to within a quarter of an hour. Other places in the zone, to the east or west of Colombo, see the sun peak a little earlier or later. Through the year the figure also drifts by up to a quarter of an hour either way.
How long the day is
Colombo is about 6.9° north of the equator. On the longest day of the year, around 21 June, the sun is up for about 12 hours 32 minutes. On the shortest, around 21 December, for about 11 hours 43 minutes. So close to the equator the day is almost the same length all year. Moving the clocks would gain nothing, and Sri Lanka does not do it.
Office hours shared with other places
If both sides work from 9 am to 6 pm, these are the hours when a call falls inside the working day at both ends. Times are for Sri Lanka.
- With London, in January: 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 12:30 pm in London (3 hours 30 minutes shared). In July: 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 1:30 pm in London (4 hours 30 minutes shared).
- With New York, in January: no shared office hour: 9:00 am here is 10:30 pm in New York, and 6:00 pm here is 7:30 am there, so one side has to start early or stay late. In July: no shared office hour: 9:00 am here is 11:30 pm in New York, and 6:00 pm here is 8:30 am there, so one side has to start early or stay late.
- With Singapore, all year: 9:00 am to 3:30 pm here, which is 11:30 am to 6:00 pm in Singapore (6 hours 30 minutes shared).
How many people keep this time
The GeoNames list has 60 towns and cities of 15,000 people or more in this zone area, with about 4.3 million people between them. People in villages and smaller towns are not in that count, so the true number on this clock is higher.
Cities that keep this time
The largest cities in this zone: Colombo, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Maharagama, Jaffna, Moratuwa, Negombo, Pita Kotte, Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, Kandy, Trincomalee, Kalmunai, Galle, Point Pedro, Batticaloa.
Places with exactly the same time
These zones show the same time as Sri Lanka through the whole year: Kolkata, India.
The clock above uses your device's clock and the time zone rules built into your browser. Rules on this page: IANA time zone database 2026f. See About and data sources.