Time ZonesAbout this time zone
All of Afghanistan keeps one time. Computers and phones know it by the zone name Asia/Kabul. Its time is UTC+4:30, which means it is 4 hours 30 minutes ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) all year round. Compared with India (IST), it is 1 hour behind India.
Clock changes in 2026 and 2027
Afghanistan does not change its clocks in 2026 or 2027. The time stays at UTC+4:30 all year, so there is no daylight saving time to remember.
Time difference with major cities
| When it is 12:00 noon in Afghanistan, it is | In January 2026 | In July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| India | 1:00 pm1 hour ahead | 1:00 pm1 hour ahead |
| United Kingdom | 7:30 am4 hours 30 minutes behind | 8:30 am3 hours 30 minutes behind |
| France | 8:30 am3 hours 30 minutes behind | 9:30 am2 hours 30 minutes behind |
| New York, United States | 2:30 am9 hours 30 minutes behind | 3:30 am8 hours 30 minutes behind |
| Chicago, United States | 1:30 am10 hours 30 minutes behind | 2:30 am9 hours 30 minutes behind |
| Los Angeles, United States | 11:30 pm previous day12 hours 30 minutes behind | 12:30 am11 hours 30 minutes behind |
| United Arab Emirates | 11:30 am30 minutes behind | 11:30 am30 minutes behind |
| Singapore | 3:30 pm3 hours 30 minutes ahead | 3:30 pm3 hours 30 minutes ahead |
| Japan | 4:30 pm4 hours 30 minutes ahead | 4:30 pm4 hours 30 minutes ahead |
| Sydney, Australia | 6:30 pm6 hours 30 minutes ahead | 5:30 pm5 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 Afghanistan
A time zone is an agreement, and the sun does not follow it exactly. Kabul, the largest city in this zone, lies at about 69.2° east. Each degree of longitude is worth four minutes, so by the sun alone its time would be about 4 hours 37 minutes ahead of UTC. The clock is set to UTC+4:30. The sun is therefore highest in the sky at about 11:53 am 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 Kabul, 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
Kabul is about 34.5° north of the equator. On the longest day of the year, around 21 June, the sun is up for about 14 hours 28 minutes. On the shortest, around 21 December, for about 9 hours 50 minutes. That is a swing of about 4 hours 38 minutes between summer and winter, yet the clocks here stay the same all year.
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 Afghanistan.
- With India, all year: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm here, which is 10:00 am to 6:00 pm in India (8 hours shared).
- With London, in January: 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 1:30 pm in London (4 hours 30 minutes shared). In July: 12:30 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 2:30 pm in London (5 hours 30 minutes shared).
- With New York, in January: 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. In July: 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 9:30 am in New York (30 minutes shared).
How many people keep this time
The GeoNames list has 56 towns and cities of 15,000 people or more in this zone area, with about 8.8 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: Kabul, Herāt, Mazār-e Sharīf, Kandahār, Jalālābād, Kunduz, Ghazni, Balkh, Bagrām, Baghlān, Gardez, Khōst, Maymana, Khanabad.
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.