Time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
The current local time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is shown below — the city is in the Asia/Riyadh time zone (UTC +03:00).
Riyadh local time
Thursday, 22 October 2026 GMT+3
Riyadh at a glance
- Time zone
Asia/Riyadh- UTC offset now
- +03:00 GMT+3
- Daylight saving
- No · UTC +03:00 all year
- Coordinates
- 24.71° N, 46.68° E
- Population
- 7,676,654
- Country
- Saudi Arabia · ISO SA
- Dialing code
- +966
- Currency
- Saudi Riyal (SAR)
- Work week
- Sunday to Thursday
- Drives on the
- Right
Riyadh right now
Time difference
Riyadh is shown here relative to your device's time zone.
Planning a call? Compare hours side by side in the time zone converter.
Upcoming public holidays
- Founding Day Mon, Feb 22, 2027
- End of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr) Tue, Mar 9, 2027
- Feast of the Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) Sat, May 15, 2027
- National Day Thu, Sep 23, 2027
Sun today
Sunrise 05:55 · Sunset 17:22
Day length 11h 27m · twilight and monthly table →
Riyadh time vs. UTC
A 09:00–17:00 working day in Riyadh overlaps with 09:00–17:00 UTC from 12:00 to 17:00 Riyadh time. Open this page in your browser and the second row switches to your own time zone.
| Riyadh | 00:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 | 21:00 | 22:00 | 23:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTC | 21:00 | 22:00 | 23:00 | 00:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 |
- Office hours 09–17
- Awake, off work
- Night 22–07
Riyadh vs. major cities
How far Riyadh is from the world's main business centres right now, what time it is there when the working day starts in Riyadh, and which hours of a 09:00–17:00 day the two places share. Daylight saving changes are applied automatically.
| City | Difference | At 09:00 in Riyadh | Shared office hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York · United States | −7 h | 02:00 | 16:00–17:00 |
| Los Angeles · United States | −10 h | 23:00 (prev. day) | None |
| São Paulo · Brazil | −6 h | 03:00 | 15:00–17:00 |
| London · United Kingdom | −2 h | 07:00 | 11:00–17:00 |
| Paris · France | −1 h | 08:00 | 10:00–17:00 |
| Johannesburg · South Africa | −1 h | 08:00 | 10:00–17:00 |
| Dubai · United Arab Emirates | +1 h | 10:00 | 09:00–16:00 |
| Delhi · India | +2:30 h | 11:30 | 09:00–14:30 |
| Singapore · Singapore | +5 h | 14:00 | 09:00–12:00 |
| Beijing · China | +5 h | 14:00 | 09:00–12:00 |
Shared office hours are shown in Riyadh time. Compare any set of cities hour by hour in the time zone converter, or pick a slot that suits everyone with the event planner.
Cities near Riyadh
The closest places to Riyadh among the cities we track, measured in a straight line from the city centre. Some of them keep a different clock, so check the time difference before crossing a border or booking a call.
| City | Distance | Time difference |
|---|---|---|
| Doha · Qatar | 490 km (310 mi) east | Same time |
| Kuwait City · Kuwait | 530 km (330 mi) north | Same time |
| Abu Dhabi · United Arab Emirates | 780 km (480 mi) east | +1 h |
| Mecca | 790 km (490 mi) southwest | Same time |
| Jeddah | 850 km (530 mi) southwest | Same time |
| Dubai · United Arab Emirates | 870 km (540 mi) east | +1 h |
| Baghdad · Iraq | 980 km (610 mi) north | Same time |
| Tehran · Iran | 1,300 km (810 mi) north | +0:30 h |
Distances are great-circle distances. A plus sign means the other city is ahead of Riyadh.
Clock time vs. sun time in Riyadh
Riyadh's standard offset, UTC +03:00, is based on the 45° E meridian; the city itself lies at 46.68° E, 1.7° east of it. Its clocks are therefore within 7 minutes of local solar time. Solar noon — when the sun is highest — falls between 11:38 (around 22 October) and 12:08 (around 5 February) on the clock.
How dates and times are written in Riyadh
- Short date
- 22/10/2026 · DD/MM/YYYY
- Long date
- 22 أكتوبر 2026
- Time
- 3:30 م · 12-hour clock
- Week starts on
- Sunday
Examples show 22 October 2026 at 15:30 using the Unicode CLDR conventions for ar-SA, Saudi Arabia's most common locale. Businesses and English-language sources may use other formats.
Clock changes in Riyadh
Riyadh has kept the same UTC +03:00 offset without daylight saving time since at least 1970.
No clock changes are scheduled in 2026 or 2027: Riyadh stays on UTC +03:00 all year.
Source: IANA tz database, as shipped with the Unicode ICU library.
Daylight in Riyadh through the year
The longest day in Riyadh is 21 June with 13h 40m of daylight; the shortest is 22 December with 10h 36m. Day length swings by 3 h 4 min over the year. The earliest sunrise is at 05:04 on 8 June and the latest sunset at 18:47 on 25 June — not on the solstice itself, because solar noon drifts through the year.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Riyadh in?
Riyadh uses the Asia/Riyadh time zone: UTC +03:00 all year round.
Does Riyadh observe daylight saving time?
No. Riyadh has not used daylight saving time since at least 1970.
When is the longest day of the year in Riyadh?
Around 21 June, with 13h 40m of daylight. The shortest day is around 22 December, with 10h 36m.
What is the dialing code for Riyadh?
To call Riyadh from abroad, dial your international access code, then Saudi Arabia's country code +966, then the local number without its leading trunk prefix.
What are normal working days in Riyadh?
The standard work week in Saudi Arabia runs Sunday to Thursday, with the weekend on Friday and Saturday. Keep this in mind when scheduling calls from countries with a different weekend.
What is the nearest city to Riyadh on a different time?
Of the 189 cities we track, the closest one keeping a different clock is Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, about 780 km (480 mi) to the east. It is 1 h ahead of Riyadh.
How are dates and times written in Riyadh?
Following the ar-SA conventions in the Unicode CLDR, a short date is written DD/MM/YYYY (22/10/2026) and times usually use the 12-hour clock (3:30 Ù…). Calendars start the week on Sunday.
Explore more for Riyadh
Everything else we track for Riyadh: daylight, weather, the country overview, and the exact time-zone references.