When it is 09:00 in Sydney it is 01:00 in Nairobi in January and 02:00 in July. Nairobi is 8 hours behind Sydney right now — but it is not constant: the difference is 8 hours behind in January and 7 hours behind in July. This page gives the live times in both cities, the overlap between their working days, the daylight saving dates that move the difference, and the best meeting windows.
Try the tool: Time Zone Converter — convert any time between Sydney and Nairobi, with the offset for the date you pick.
Live times in Sydney and Nairobi
The two cities side by side. The January column uses the winter offsets (Sydney UTC+11:00, Nairobi UTC+03:00); the July column uses the summer offsets (Sydney UTC+10:00, Nairobi UTC+03:00).
| Time in Sydney | Nairobi in January | Nairobi in July |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 |
| 06:00 | 22:00 | 23:00 |
| 09:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 |
| 12:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 |
| 15:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 |
| 17:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 |
| 21:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 |
The world clock shows the current time in both cities live, and the individual city pages — time in Sydney and time in Nairobi — explain each city's time zone, offsets and daylight saving in full.
The time difference between Sydney and Nairobi
The difference is not constant. In January Nairobi is 8 hours behind Sydney; in July it is 7 hours behind Sydney. The difference changes on Sunday, 5 April 2026 (from 8 hours behind to 7 hours behind) and Sunday, 4 October 2026 (from 7 hours behind to 8 hours behind) — those are the dates when one of the two cities changes its clocks and the other does not, or when they change on different days. Between those dates the difference is one value; outside them it is the other.
To convert a time, add the difference: 09:00 in Sydney is 01:00 in Nairobi in January and 02:00 in July; 17:00 in Sydney — the end of the working day — is 09:00 in Nairobi in January and 10:00 in July. To go the other way, subtract it: 09:00 in Nairobi is 17:00 in Sydney in January. The time difference calculator does the arithmetic for any date, and the UTC to Nairobi page gives the full conversion table for Nairobi.
Meeting overlap between Sydney and Nairobi
The overlap is the hours when both cities are in their working day (09:00–17:00 local time). The table marks the overlapping hours in Sydney's working day and shows what time they are in Nairobi.
January
| Sydney time | Nairobi time | Both working? |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | 01:00 | Yes |
| 10:00 | 02:00 | Yes |
| 11:00 | 03:00 | Yes |
| 12:00 | 04:00 | Yes |
| 13:00 | 05:00 | Yes |
| 14:00 | 06:00 | Yes |
| 15:00 | 07:00 | Yes |
| 16:00 | 08:00 | Yes |
July
| Sydney time | Nairobi time | Both working? |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | 02:00 | No |
| 10:00 | 03:00 | No |
| 11:00 | 04:00 | No |
| 12:00 | 05:00 | No |
| 13:00 | 06:00 | No |
| 14:00 | 07:00 | No |
| 15:00 | 08:00 | No |
| 16:00 | 09:00 | No |
In January the overlap is 8 hours: 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00 Sydney time. In July it is 0 hours: there is no hour when both cities are in their working day. The meeting planner finds the overlap for any two cities and any date, and the meeting time finder finds it for a whole team.
Daylight saving in Sydney and Nairobi
Sydney observes daylight saving: in 2026 the clocks go forward on 4 October 2026 and back on 5 April 2026, moving the offset from UTC+10:00 to UTC+11:00.
Nairobi does not observe daylight saving, so its offset of UTC+03:00 never changes.
The difference changes on Sunday, 5 April 2026 and Sunday, 4 October 2026 in 2026. On those dates, one city changes its clocks and the other does not — or they change on different days — so the difference moves by an hour. A standing meeting set in one city's local time will land an hour early or late on the other side until the second city catches up. The fix is to set the calendar event in UTC, or to check the overlap again after each change. The individual DST pages — Sydney DST 2026 and Nairobi DST 2026 — give the exact dates for each city.
Best meeting windows
The best windows in January are 09:00–17:00 in Sydney (01:00–09:00 in Nairobi). These are the hours inside both working days, so nobody is up early or late. It is a short window, so keep the meeting short and send an agenda in advance.
Calling and travel notes
When it is 09:00 in Sydney it is 01:00 in Nairobi in January; when it is 12:00 in Sydney it is 04:00 in Nairobi; when it is 17:00 in Sydney it is 09:00 in Nairobi. The difference is under 12 hours, so the two cities are usually on the same date — but check the date for late-evening and early-morning times, when the date can differ by a day. Scheduling between Africa and Oceania means a difference of 8–11 hours, so the overlap is a couple of hours at the edge of the day. The best window is usually the morning in one city and the evening in the other. Check the tables above for the month you are scheduling in, because the southern-hemisphere daylight saving dates move the difference twice a year.
Worked conversions
Six conversions, for January (offsets Sydney UTC+11:00, Nairobi UTC+03:00):
| Sydney | Nairobi |
|---|---|
| 08:00 | 00:00 |
| 09:00 | 01:00 |
| 12:00 | 04:00 |
| 14:00 | 06:00 |
| 17:00 | 09:00 |
| 20:00 | 12:00 |
In July, add 1 hour to each Nairobi time. For the reverse direction, see Nairobi to Sydney time.
Sydney and Nairobi at a glance
| Fact | Sydney | Nairobi |
|---|---|---|
| Country | Australia | Kenya |
| Region | Oceania | Africa |
| IANA time zone | Australia/Sydney |
Africa/Nairobi |
| Standard offset | UTC+10:00 | UTC+03:00 |
| Daylight saving offset | UTC+11:00 | — does not observe |
| Offset in January 2026 | UTC+11:00 | UTC+03:00 |
| Offset in July 2026 | UTC+10:00 | UTC+03:00 |
| Observes daylight saving | Yes | No |
The table is the whole pair in one place. The two numbers that matter most are the January and July offsets: if they are the same in both columns for a city, that city's offset never changes; if they differ, the city observes daylight saving and the difference between the cities moves with it. The individual city pages — time in Sydney and time in Nairobi — explain each city's time zone, and the DST pages — Sydney DST 2026 and Nairobi DST 2026 — give the exact change dates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the time difference between Sydney and Nairobi?
Nairobi is 8 hours behind Sydney right now. In January the difference is 8 hours behind and in July it is 7 hours behind — it changes with daylight saving.
How do I schedule a recurring meeting between Sydney and Nairobi?
Pick a time inside the overlap — 09:00–17:00 Sydney time — and set the calendar event in UTC so it moves correctly when the clocks change. Re-check the overlap in March and October, when the difference moves, and rotate the time if the meeting falls outside someone's working day.
What time is it in Nairobi when it is 09:00 in Sydney?
It is 01:00 in January and 02:00 in July. The time zone converter gives the answer for any date.
What is the best time for a meeting between Sydney and Nairobi?
The best windows in January are 09:00–17:00 Sydney time — inside both working days.
Does the time difference between Sydney and Nairobi change during the year?
Yes. It changes on Sunday, 5 April 2026 and Sunday, 4 October 2026 in 2026, when one city changes its clocks and the other does not.
What time is it in Sydney when it is 09:00 in Nairobi?
It is 17:00 in January and 16:00 in July. See Nairobi to Sydney time for the full comparison from Nairobi's side.
What are the time zones of Sydney and Nairobi?
Sydney is in Australia/Sydney (UTC+10:00 standard time) and Nairobi is in Africa/Nairobi (UTC+03:00 standard time).
What time is it in Sydney when it is midnight in Nairobi?
It is 08:00 in Sydney in January and 07:00 in July — the previous day, because Nairobi is ahead of Sydney. Midnight conversions are the ones that most often land on the wrong date, so always check the date as well as the time.
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. - TimeFlow's time zone converter and meeting planner — 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.