What time is it in Argentina?
GMT-3 · America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires
Back to ArgentinaNow in Buenos Aires
GMT-3 UTC-03:00
UTC-03:00
all yearArgentina Standard Time
All of Argentina keeps one time, UTC−3, all year, from Jujuy on the Bolivian border to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego. By longitude the country would sit at UTC−4 or UTC−5, so its clocks run an hour or two ahead of the sun, and the national time is kept by the Naval Hydrographic Service. Argentina decides whether to change its clocks year by year and provinces may opt out; the last change was in March 2009, and the clocks have not moved since.
Today
Daylight in Buenos Aires today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 06:32First light 06:07
- Sunset
- 18:55Last light 19:20
- Day length
- 12 h 23 min+2 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:43Sun at 58°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Argentina and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far Argentina is from other places
Neighbours
- BoliviaLa Paz−1 h
- BrazilBrasíliaSame time
- ChileSantiagoSame time
- United KingdomLondon+4 h
- ParaguayAsunciónSame time
- UruguayMontevideoSame time
Around the world
- New York−1 h
- Los Angeles−4 h
- Moscow+6 h
- Dubai+7 h
- Delhi+8:30 h
- Beijing+11 h
- Tokyo+12 h
- Sydney+13 h
Clock changes
Argentina does not change its clocks
The first official standard time, UTC−4, was set on 31 October 1894. From 1920 to 1969 the clocks moved twice a year between UTC−4 in winter and UTC−3 in summer, with long runs on UTC−3 in the 1940s and 1950s. From 1974 the country kept UTC−3 as its base and moved to UTC−2 in some summers, a double summer time, in 1974 and again from 1988 to 1993. In 1993 the national time was fixed at UTC−3, the hora oficial argentina. Summer time came back for the summers of 2007 to 2008 and 2008 to 2009, when UTC−2 was used from 30 December 2007 to 15 March 2008 and from 19 October 2008 to 14 March 2009. In the second of those seasons thirteen provinces, among them Mendoza, Salta, San Luis and Tierra del Fuego, stayed on UTC−3, and from 15 March 2009 the whole country has kept UTC−3.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Buenos Aires
- Sunrise
- 06:32
- Sunset
- 18:55
- Daylight
- 12 h 23 min
- Change
- +2 min
Longest day of 2026: 17 December, 14 h 28 min.
Computed for -34.60, -58.38 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 12-hour
- Short date
- 5/3/26
- Long date
- 5 de marzo de 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- GMT-3
- Time zone database
- Buenos Aires
History
How the clocks in Argentina got here
- 1890
- To 1893.Local mean time, UTC-03:53, before the standard zone.
- 1894
- The move from local mean time, UTC-04:16, to UTCundefined.
- 1895
- To 1919.Local mean time, UTC-04:16, before the standard zone.
- 1920
- The move from local mean time, UTC-04:16, to UTC-04:00.
- 1921
- To 1929.UTC-04:00 all year.
- 1930
- Clocks on UTC-04:00, UTC-03:00 at different times of the year.
- 1931
- To 1941.Clocks on UTC-04:00, UTC-03:00 at different times of the year.
- 1942
- UTC-03:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1943
- Clocks on UTC-04:00, UTC-03:00 at different times of the year.
- 1944
- To 1945.UTC-03:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1946
- Clocks on UTC-04:00, UTC-03:00 at different times of the year.
- 1947
- To 1962.UTC-03:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1963
- To 1969.Clocks on UTC-04:00, UTC-03:00 at different times of the year.
- 1970
- To 1973.UTC-03:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1974
- UTC-03:00 in winter, UTC-02:00 in summer time.
- 1975
- To 1987.UTC-03:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1988
- UTC-03:00 in winter, UTC-02:00 in summer time.
- 1989
- To 1992.UTC-03:00 in winter, UTC-02:00 in summer time.
- 1993
- UTC-03:00 in winter, UTC-02:00 in summer time.
- 1994
- To 2006.UTC-03:00 all year, no summer time.
- 2007
- UTC-03:00 in winter, UTC-02:00 in summer time.
- 2008
- UTC-03:00 in winter, UTC-02:00 in summer time.
- 2009
- UTC-03:00 in winter, UTC-02:00 in summer time.
- 2010
- To today.UTC-03:00 all year, no summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Argentina
What time zone is Buenos Aires in?
Buenos Aires keeps UTC−3 all year, Argentina Time, and so does the rest of the country. The time zone database lists twelve Argentine zones, from America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires to America/Argentina/Ushuaia, but every one of them now uses the same offset; they exist because provinces kept different times in the past.
Does Argentina use daylight saving time?
Not at present. The last summer time ended on 15 March 2009, and the clocks have stayed on UTC−3 since. The government decides on summer time year by year, and a province may opt out of a national change, as thirteen did in the season from October 2008 to March 2009.
Why is Argentina on UTC−3 when its longitude suggests UTC−4?
Because what was once the summer offset became the permanent one. By longitude Argentina would be on UTC−4 or even UTC−5, and from 1920 to 1969 UTC−4 was standard winter time. UTC−3 has been the base since October 1969, apart from the double summer times on UTC−2, and it was fixed as the national time, the hora oficial argentina, in 1993.
Why does the time zone database list so many Argentine zones?
Twelve zones cover the country, from Buenos Aires and Córdoba to Mendoza, San Luis, Río Gallegos and Ushuaia. Their offsets are all UTC−3 now; they differ only in history, in the seasons when some provinces declined a national clock change or kept a different offset, as thirteen provinces did in 2008 and 2009.
When did Argentina last change its clocks?
On 15 March 2009, when the clocks went back from UTC−2 to UTC−3 at the end of the 2008 to 2009 summer. The government announced in October 2009 that it would not move the clocks forward that year, and no change has been made since.
Who keeps Argentina's official time?
The Servicio de Hidrografía Naval, the Naval Hydrographic Service under the Ministry of Defence, maintains the official national time. It also publishes the list of time zones Argentina has adopted since the first standard time of 31 October 1894, the record from which the history of summer time and of the provincial exceptions is drawn.
Argentina has 12 zones; this page reads the capital’s. All figures