What time is it in Bulgaria?
EET / EEST · Europe/Sofia
Back to BulgariaNow in Sofia
EET UTC+02:00
UTC+02:00
UTC+03:00 in summerEastern European Standard Time
Bulgaria keeps Eastern European Time, two hours ahead of UTC, and moves its clocks to Eastern European Summer Time, UTC+3, between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. There is one zone for the whole country, listed in the time zone database as Europe/Sofia, so Sofia and every other Bulgarian town read the same time.
Today
Daylight in Sofia today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 07:20First light 06:51
- Sunset
- 19:15Last light 19:43
- Day length
- 11 h 55 min−3 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:17Sun at 46°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Bulgaria 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 Bulgaria is from other places
Neighbours
- GreeceAthensSame time
- North MacedoniaSkopje−1 h
- RomaniaBucharestSame time
- SerbiaBelgrade−1 h
- TürkiyeAnkaraSame time
Around the world
- London−2 h
- New York−7 h
- Los Angeles−10 h
- São Paulo−6 h
- MoscowSame time
- Dubai+1 h
- Delhi+2:30 h
- Beijing+5 h
- Tokyo+6 h
- Sydney+7 h
Clock changes
When the clocks change in Bulgaria
Next change
Sunday, 25 October 2026
Clocks go back one hour: at 04:00 it becomes 03:00 EET, UTC+02:00. The night is an hour longer.
| Year | Clocks go forward | Clocks go back |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 29 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 25 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2027 | 28 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 31 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2028 | 26 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 29 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2029 | 25 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 28 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2030 | 31 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 27 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
Until 1894 Sofia kept local mean time, 1 hour 56 minutes ahead of UTC, and in that year the country moved to UTC+2. During the Second World War its clocks went back to UTC+1, with summer time at UTC+2; the zone database runs that period from 1942 to 1945, while Wikipedia dates the wartime summer time to 1943 and 1944. A regulation of the Council of Ministers brought summer time back in 1979, and it has been kept every year since, today under the European Union rule.
The European Commission proposed in September 2018 to end the twice-yearly change, and the full European Parliament backed the plan on 26 March 2019, leaving each member state to pick a permanent time from 2021. The Council of the European Union has not adopted it, and as of March 2026 the proposal was still blocked, so Bulgaria keeps switching with the rest of the Union.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Sofia
- Sunrise
- 07:20
- Sunset
- 19:15
- Daylight
- 11 h 55 min
- Change
- −3 min
Longest day of 2026: 20 June, 15 h 20 min.
Computed for 42.70, 23.32 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 24-hour
- Short date
- 5.03.26 г.
- Long date
- 5 март 2026 г.
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- EET / EEST
- Time zone database
- Sofia
History
How the clocks in Bulgaria got here
- 1890
- To 1893.Local mean time, UTC+01:56, before the standard zone.
- 1894
- The move from local mean time, UTC+01:56, to UTC+02:00.
- 1895
- To 1941.UTC+02:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1942
- Clocks on UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00 at different times of the year.
- 1943
- To 1944.Clocks on UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00 at different times of the year.
- 1945
- Clocks on UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00 at different times of the year.
- 1946
- To 1978.UTC+02:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1979
- To today.UTC+02:00 in winter, UTC+03:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Sofia, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Bulgaria
What time zone is Bulgaria in?
Eastern European Time, UTC+2, for the winter months, and Eastern European Summer Time, UTC+3, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. A single zone, Europe/Sofia, covers the whole of Bulgaria, so no town runs ahead of the capital or behind it. In Bulgarian the standard time is called Източноевропейско време, Eastern European time.
When do the clocks change in Bulgaria in 2026?
On Sunday 29 March 2026 clocks in Bulgaria jumped from 03:00 to 04:00, and on Sunday 25 October they fall back from 04:00 to 03:00. The switch happens at 01:00 UTC, the same instant across the European Union, which reads 03:00 on a Bulgarian clock and 02:00 in the Central European zone. The 2027 dates are 28 March and 31 October.
Is Bulgaria on the same time as Greece and Romania?
Yes. Greece and Romania also keep UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer, and all three change on the same nights. Türkiye is the neighbour that differs: it stopped changing its clocks in 2016 and stays on UTC+3 all year, so it matches Bulgaria in summer and runs an hour ahead of it in winter.
When did Bulgaria start using summer time?
The first summer time was a wartime one. Wikipedia dates a summer time to 1943 and 1944, when Bulgarian clocks had been moved to UTC+1. The rule in force today began in 1979 with a regulation of the Council of Ministers, and summer time has run every year since. Bulgaria now follows the European Union schedule, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.
Will Bulgaria stop changing the clocks?
Not while the European Union rule stands. The European Parliament voted on 26 March 2019 to abolish the seasonal switch from 2021, but the Council of the European Union has to agree as well and has not. As of March 2026 the file was still stalled, so Bulgaria moves its clocks in March and October like every other member state.
What is the time difference between Bulgaria and London?
Two hours, in both seasons. The United Kingdom keeps Greenwich Mean Time in winter and British Summer Time in summer, and it switches on the same Sundays as the European Union, so the gap never shifts. When it is 09:00 in London it is 11:00 in Sofia.
Does Bulgaria use the 24-hour clock?
Yes. Bulgarians commonly write times on the 24-hour clock, and bus and train timetables use it throughout, so an afternoon departure reads 14:30 rather than 2:30 pm. Dates are written day first, as in 5 март 2026 г., and the week is counted from Monday.