Belgium time · Brussels

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Belgium has one time zone, Central European Time. Its clocks keep CET, UTC+1 in winter and move to CEST, UTC+2 in summer. The clock above shows Belgium's time live, with seconds, and switches between the two by itself.

Updated 2 October 2026 · Time zone data 2026e · Sources

Time zone in Belgium

Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Charleroi all keep the same time, as does every town in Flanders and Wallonia. Across the borders, Paris, Amsterdam and Luxembourg keep it too.

Time zone: Central European Time
Standard time: CET, UTC+1
Daylight saving time: CEST, UTC+2
Main cities: Brussels, Antwerpen, Gent, Charleroi

When the clocks change in Belgium

Clocks in Belgium change twice a year.

Clocks go back

Sunday 25 October 2026

3:00 AMto2:00 AM

Then CET, UTC+1

Clocks go forward

Sunday 28 March 2027

2:00 AMto3:00 AM

Then CEST, UTC+2

Last change: On Sunday 29 March 2026 at 2:00 AM, clocks went forward one hour, to CEST.

Daylight saving dates around the world

How many hours ahead or behind Brussels

On 12 October 2026, London is 1 hour behind Brussels.

City	Difference from Brussels
London	1 hour behind
New York	6 hours behind
Toronto	6 hours behind
Paris	Same time
Casablanca	2 hours behind
Istanbul	1 hour ahead
Dubai	2 hours ahead
Lagos	1 hour behind
Your time zone	Detected after this page loads

Convert a time between any two places

How Belgium keeps its time

Legal time from the Observatory: ROBthe Royal Observatory of Belgium, which supplies legal time; By law, Belgian legal time is Coordinated Universal Time plus one hour, or plus two hours in summer. The Royal Observatory of Belgium produces its own copy of that time from its atomic clocks. It sends the legal time to computers over the internet through two time servers. Before the current law, legal time was the sun's time on the Greenwich meridian.; Source Royal Observatory of Belgium, the Belgian legal time is now based on UTC
Three regions, one clock: 3regions and three communities, all on one time; Belgium is a federal state of three regions, Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, and three communities. The Dutch, French and German speakers of its four language areas all read one clock. Nothing in the country keeps a different hour. The clocks change at the same moment from the coast to the German-speaking area.; Sources Belgian Senate, the Belgian Constitution, European Union, Belgium country profile
The Union's clock in Brussels: 1of the three official seats of the European institutions; Brussels is one of the three official seats of the European institutions, with Luxembourg City and Strasbourg. A Union directive sets the dates on which every member state changes its clocks. So the hour that changes in Brussels changes at the same instant in Paris, Rome and Warsaw. The European Commission has proposed ending the twice-yearly change. The Observatory published sunrise and sunset tables for Brussels under each option, to inform Belgium's choice.; Sources European Union, Belgium country profile, Publications Office of the EU, Directive 2000/84/EC on summer time, Royal Observatory of Belgium, summer time or winter time
Greenwich time, then an hour ahead: +1 hahead of Greenwich in winter, since the Second World War; Brussels once kept its own mean time, set by the sun over the city rather than over Greenwich. The state then adopted Greenwich time as legal time. In both world wars German occupiers imposed Central European time. After the Second World War Belgium kept that one-hour shift as its winter time. Summer time first came with the occupiers in the First World War, in the parts of Belgium they held. After spells on and off, it returned for good in the seventies and has followed the Union's dates since.; Sources IANA time zone database, Europe zones file, Royal Observatory of Belgium, the Belgian timezone and the daylight time saving system

Questions about time in Belgium

What time zone is Belgium in?

Belgium keeps Central European Time, CET, UTC+1, in winter and Central European Summer Time, CEST, UTC+2, in summer. One time covers all three regions, Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. By law, legal time is Coordinated Universal Time plus one hour, or two in summer. The Royal Observatory of Belgium supplies it.

When do the clocks change in Belgium?

The clocks change on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October, with the whole European Union. In March, two in the morning becomes three. In October, three in the morning becomes two again. Every member state changes at one in the morning Greenwich time. The cards above show Belgium's next two changes.

Is Belgium on the same time as the UK?

No. London is 1 hour behind Belgium, in winter and in summer. The UK moves its clocks on the same two nights as the European Union, so the hour between them holds. A meeting set for ten in Brussels is nine in London, whatever the season.

What is the time difference between Belgium and New York or Toronto?

New York and Toronto are 6 hours behind Belgium through winter and summer alike. The two sides change their clocks on different Sundays. North America goes first in spring, so the gap is an hour less for two or three weeks in March. In autumn Belgium goes first, so the gap shrinks again for one week.

How far ahead or behind Belgium are Istanbul, Dubai, Casablanca and Kinshasa?

Istanbul is 2 hours ahead of Belgium in winter, one hour in summer. Dubai is 3 hours ahead of Belgium in winter, two in summer. Casablanca is 1 hour behind Belgium in winter, two in summer. Kinshasa keeps Belgium's winter time all year, an hour behind in summer. Morocco no longer changes its clocks.

Time zone names for developers

IANA zone	Standard time	Daylight saving time
Europe/Brussels	CET, UTC+1	Yes

Sources

We checked each fact on this page against these sources on 2 October 2026. Times, offsets and clock changes come from the time zone database.