Time zone · Africa
CET
Central European Standard Time
Central European Time stretches from Algiers to Svalbard and Berlin, giving much of Europe, parts of North Africa, and the Arctic a shared clock—most of the region nudges forward an hour in summer, so your meeting in Brussels and your call to Tunis stay neatly aligned.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Current offset
UTC+01:00
Standard · CET
Daylight saving
Not observed
Year-round standard time
IANA zones
2
None observe daylight saving
DST offset
—
No summer variant
About CET
A fixed, year-round offset.
Central European Time stretches from Algiers to Svalbard and Berlin, giving much of Europe, parts of North Africa, and the Arctic a shared clock—most of the region nudges forward an hour in summer, so your meeting in Brussels and your call to Tunis stay neatly aligned.
IANA zones · the technical identifiers
The 2 zones that resolve to CET.
For software, always store the IANA identifier — never the abbreviation alone. The database keeps these zones distinct because their rules can, and historically did, diverge.
Cities currently on CET
The same hour, city by city.
3 cities · all UTC+01:00
Where CET is used
2 countries.
Same offset · UTC+01:00
Other zones at UTC+01:00 right now.
These named zones share CET's offset today. When daylight saving rules differ, they drift apart for part of the year.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about CET, daylight saving, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Is CET the same across the whole region?
- Not exactly. Most of the CET zone sits one hour ahead in standard time and two in summer, but Algeria and Tunisia keep year-round standard time, so check the country before scheduling noon across borders.
- How many places use Central European Time?
- Around 35 distinct zones—from Algiers, Tunis, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Amsterdam, and Belgrade to remote Svalbard—share this region even if their local rules differ slightly.
- When does CET switch to daylight saving?
- In most CET member zones, clocks jump forward on the last Sunday in March and fall back the last Sunday in October, giving evening light from Lisbon to Budapest.
- Do all CET countries observe daylight saving?
- Almost all of them do. Only a couple of North African zones stay fixed year-round, avoiding the twice-yearly clock change.
- Are there surprising CET countries?
- Yes—Spain’s Canary Islands run their own zone, while Svalbard’s midnight sun under CET adds Arctic schedules and very long summer evenings.
- Is CET ever the same as UTC?
- During standard time it’s one hour ahead, so noon meetings in continental Europe feel an hour ahead of Greenwich—and in Berlin it’s never the same unless you travel westward.
- Can two cities in CET be an hour apart?
- Rarely, but it happens—when one zone changes its rules or skips daylight saving, you might find Algiers at the same hour as London in winter.
- What countries use CET in Africa?
- Algeria and Tunisia keep it year-round under different names, enabling business with Europe but without daylight saving.
- Does CET make it easier to call across timezones?
- Mostly yes—only offsets and a few exceptions let you swap Paris for Belgrade with stable summer time and continental timekeeping.
Free · Developer API
Time, as JSON.
Every IANA time zone with live offsets, DST status, and the countries and cities that use them — clean, dependable JSON. Sign up free and get an API key in seconds.
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