Current Time in Taipei
The clock gives the time in Taipei to the second. Taiwan keeps UTC+8 in every season, the same offset as Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai.
Current time in Taipei
- IANA zone
- Current time in Taipei
What time zone is Taipei in?
Taipei uses National Standard Time, UTC+8, all year. There is no summer time, so the offset never changes.
- Offset
- UTC+8
- Summer time
- Not observed since 1979
- IANA zone
- Asia/Taipei
Taiwan's National Standard Time
- IANA zone
- Asia/Taipei
- Standard time
- CST · UTC+8
- Daylight saving time
- Not observed
Taiwan used summer time in many years between 1945 and 1979, usually from spring to the end of September. Since 1980 the island has kept one offset all year. In everyday use the time is often labeled CST, for Chungyuan or China Standard Time, which is why some systems show Taipei with the same letters as Shanghai.
Electronics and chip supply chains keep Taipei busy on calls with California. The IANA time zone database entry Asia/Taipei drives the clock on every phone there.
Taiwan's offset also matches the Philippines and Singapore, so regional calls across the South China Sea need no arithmetic. Seoul and Tokyo are always one hour ahead.
Planning calls across the Pacific
California is fifteen or sixteen hours behind Taipei, so the working days barely overlap. The usual compromise is an early-morning slot in Taipei, which lands in the afternoon of the previous day on the US West Coast.
Common Taipei–California slots
- 8:00 AM Taipei is 4:00 PM or 5:00 PM the previous day in San Francisco.
- 9:00 PM Taipei is 5:00 AM or 6:00 AM the same day in San Francisco.
- The US clock change in March and November moves both slots by an hour.
Taipei compared with other cities
| City | In January | In July |
|---|---|---|
| Honolulu | −18 | −18 |
| Anchorage | −17 | −16 |
| Seattle | −16 | −15 |
| Denver | −15 | −14 |
| Vancouver | −15 | −15 |
| Houston | −14 | −13 |
| Lima | −13 | −13 |
| Toronto | −13 | −12 |
| Washington, D.C. | −13 | −12 |
| Buenos Aires | −11 | −11 |
| São Paulo | −11 | −11 |
| London | −8 | −7 |
| Amsterdam | −7 | −6 |
| Berlin | −7 | −6 |
| Madrid | −7 | −6 |
| Paris | −7 | −6 |
| Zurich | −7 | −6 |
| Athens | −6 | −5 |
| Cairo | −6 | −5 |
| Johannesburg | −6 | −6 |
| Doha | −5 | −5 |
| Nairobi | −5 | −5 |
| Riyadh | −5 | −5 |
| Dubai | −4 | −4 |
| Delhi | −2:30 | −2:30 |
| Dhaka | −2 | −2 |
| Ho Chi Minh City | −1 | −1 |
| Kuala Lumpur | 0 | 0 |
| Manila | 0 | 0 |
| Perth | 0 | 0 |
| Shanghai | 0 | 0 |
| Seoul | +1 | +1 |
| Brisbane | +2 | +2 |
| Melbourne | +3 | +2 |
| Sydney | +3 | +2 |
Hours to add to the time in Taipei; a minus sign means the other city is behind
In East Asia, Taipei matches Shanghai, Hong Kong and Manila and is one hour behind Seoul and Tokyo. The Seoul clock shows the UTC+9 side.
Sunrise in Taipei falls between about 5:05 AM in June and 6:40 AM in January.
Taipei time questions
What time zone is Taiwan in?
National Standard Time, UTC+8. All of Taiwan, including Kaohsiung and Taichung, uses the same clock.
Does Taiwan observe daylight saving time?
Not any more. Taiwan last used summer time in 1979.
How many hours is Taipei behind Tokyo?
One hour, all year.
What is the time difference between Taipei and San Francisco?
Sixteen hours during US standard time and fifteen during US daylight time, with Taipei ahead.
Who keeps Taiwan's official time?
The Telecommunication Laboratories of Chunghwa Telecom maintain the national time standard and offer public time servers.