South America spans 5 time zones, and this guide covers them all: the offset in each city, the daylight saving dates, the best time to call from New York or London, and how to convert any time. The 6 major cities covered here are São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro.
Try the tool: World Clock — see the current time in every city in South America, with the date and the offset.
Time zones in South America
| City | IANA time zone | Offset in January 2026 | Offset in July 2026 | Daylight saving? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| São Paulo | America/Sao_Paulo | UTC−03:00 | UTC−03:00 | No |
| Buenos Aires | America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires | UTC−03:00 | UTC−03:00 | No |
| Santiago | America/Santiago | UTC−03:00 | UTC−04:00 | Yes |
| Lima | America/Lima | UTC−05:00 | UTC−05:00 | No |
| Bogotá | America/Bogota | UTC−05:00 | UTC−05:00 | No |
| Rio de Janeiro | America/Sao_Paulo | UTC−03:00 | UTC−03:00 | No |
The spread across South America is 2 hours in January — the difference between the easternmost and westernmost zones. That matters when you schedule inside the country: a meeting at 9am in the east can be 6am in the west, and a national broadcast or a train timetable has to pick a time that works across the spread. The table above gives the offset for each city, so you can convert between any two of them.
Daylight saving in South America
Santiago observes daylight saving; São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro do not. The 2026 dates for the zones that change:
| Time zone | Daylight saving starts 2026 | Daylight saving ends 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Santiago | Sunday, 6 September 2026 | Saturday, 4 April 2026 |
São Paulo: Brazil abolished daylight saving in 2019. The government concluded that energy savings had become negligible, and the clock changes were unpopular. Buenos Aires: Argentina has not observed daylight saving since 2009. Earlier experiments in 2008–2009 were unpopular and were not repeated. Lima: Peru sits close to the equator, where day length barely changes through the year, so daylight saving has never been adopted. Bogotá: Colombia sits almost on the equator, where day length is nearly constant all year, so daylight saving has never been used. Rio de Janeiro: Brazil abolished daylight saving in 2019. The government concluded that energy savings had become negligible, and the clock changes were unpopular.
What time is it in South America when it is 12:00 UTC?
| City | Local time at 12:00 UTC (15 January 2026) |
|---|---|
| São Paulo | 9:00 am |
| Buenos Aires | 9:00 am |
| Santiago | 9:00 am |
| Lima | 7:00 am |
| Bogotá | 7:00 am |
| Rio de Janeiro | 9:00 am |
How to convert a time to South America
Take 3pm in London. In January, London is UTC+00:00 and São Paulo is UTC−03:00, so 3pm in London is 12:00 pm in São Paulo. In July, London is UTC+01:00 and São Paulo is UTC−03:00, so 3pm in London is 11:00 am in São Paulo. The answer is the same in July as in January, because neither place changes its offset — São Paulo does not observe daylight saving. The time zone converter does this for any two cities and any date, and the UTC converter converts from UTC.
The best time to call South America
The overlap of a 9am–5pm working day between São Paulo and New York is 6 hours in January 2026; between São Paulo and London it is 5 hours. The best time to call is mid-morning in the city further east and late morning in the city further west — the overlap of the two best parts of the day. The meeting planner shows the overlap for any set of cities.
The time in South America through the year
The offset of São Paulo month by month in 2026 — the local time when it is 12:00 UTC on the 15th of each month:
| Month | UTC offset | Local time at 12:00 UTC |
|---|---|---|
| January | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| February | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| March | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| April | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| May | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| June | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| July | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| August | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| September | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| October | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| November | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
| December | UTC−03:00 | 9:00 am |
São Paulo stays on the same offset all twelve months, because it does not observe daylight saving — the table is the same in January and in July, and there is no clock change to remember. The world clock for São Paulo shows the live time and the offset in effect today.
South America and the rest of the world
The time difference from São Paulo to six major cities, in January and in July 2026:
| City | Difference in January | Difference in July |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 2 hours ahead | 1 hour ahead |
| London | 3 hours behind | 4 hours behind |
| Paris | 4 hours behind | 5 hours behind |
| Tokyo | 12 hours behind | 12 hours behind |
| Sydney | 14 hours behind | 13 hours behind |
| Dubai | 7 hours behind | 7 hours behind |
The differences change between January and July wherever one of the two cities observes daylight saving and the other does not — or wherever they change on different dates. The time zone converter gives the difference for any date, so a conversion done for January is not reused for July without checking.
Calling South America from London
In January, the working hours of São Paulo and London overlap between 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm London time — that is the window in which a call falls inside both working days. The best time inside the window is usually the middle of it, when both sides are mid-morning or early afternoon rather than at the edge of the working day. Outside the window, one side is either not yet at work or already finished, so the call has to be early morning or late evening for someone.
Neighbouring time zones
Other major cities in the Americas, for comparison:
| City | Country | Offset in January 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| New York | United States | UTC−05:00 |
| Los Angeles | United States | UTC−08:00 |
| Toronto | Canada | UTC−05:00 |
| Mexico City | Mexico | UTC−06:00 |
| Chicago | United States | UTC−06:00 |
| San Francisco | United States | UTC−08:00 |
| Vancouver | Canada | UTC−08:00 |
| Boston | United States | UTC−05:00 |
Frequently asked questions
How many time zones does South America have?
5 — the cities covered here use America/Sao_Paulo, America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires, America/Santiago, America/Lima, America/Bogota. The table above gives the offset for each city in January and July.
What is the time zone of São Paulo?
São Paulo is on America/Sao_Paulo, UTC−03:00 from UTC in January and UTC−03:00 in July. The world clock for São Paulo shows the live time.
Does South America observe daylight saving?
Partly: Santiago observes it, and São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro do not.
What time is it in São Paulo when it is 12:00 UTC?
9:00 am on 15 January 2026 — São Paulo is UTC−03:00 from UTC in winter.
What is the best time to call South America from London?
The overlap of working hours between São Paulo and London is 5 hours in January. Mid-morning in the city further east is usually the kindest time — use the meeting planner to check.
How do I convert a time to South America?
Find the offset for the city and the date — the table above gives January and July — and add it to the UTC time, or use the time zone converter to convert between any two cities directly.
Related pages
- What time is it in São Paulo?
- What time is it in Buenos Aires?
- What time is it in Santiago?
- What time is it in Lima?
- Time Zone Converter
- World Clock
- UTC Converter
- Daylight saving time 2026 dates
Sources
- IANA Time Zone Database, via Node.js Intl (
Intl.DateTimeFormatwithtimeZone) — offsets, daylight saving dates and local times in this article were worked out from the IANA database, not typed from memory. - TimeFlow's own time-zone data (
data/cities.ts,data/dst.ts), computed from the IANA database. - Time zone rules and offsets: the IANA Time Zone Database, as applied by this site's tools. Offsets and daylight saving dates on this page are computed from the database for the dates stated.
- TimeFlow's world clock and time zone converter — the live tools behind the numbers on this page.
- Time-zone and daylight saving rules are set by governments and can change. For flights, deadlines and meetings that cannot move, confirm the time with an official source.