Kazakhstan time zone: one zone, UTC+5, since 1 March 2024

Kazakhstan uses a single time zone, UTC+5 (also written GMT+5), all year round. There is no daylight saving time, so Almaty, Astana, Aktau and Shymkent always show the same time.

That has been the rule since midnight on 1 March 2024. Before then, most of the country, including both big cities, was on UTC+6. If an old guidebook, a booking confirmation or a cached app still shows UTC+6, trust the current rule.

The short answer

Time difference with your home city

The table shows how far each city is ahead of (+) or behind (−) Kazakhstan. Only cities that observe daylight saving time change between columns.

Offsets are from timeanddate.com as of 10 November 2026. In 2026 the UK and Germany were on summer time from 29 March to 25 October, New York from 8 March to 1 November. In the weeks when Europe or the US has changed and Kazakhstan has not, double-check meeting times and connecting flights. If you are crossing to Kyrgyzstan, add an hour; see Almaty to Bishkek.

What changed on 1 March 2024

At 00:00 on the night of 29 February to 1 March 2024, the cities of Astana, Almaty and Shymkent and twelve regions moved their clocks back one hour, from UTC+6 to UTC+5. The order came from Government Resolution No. 20 of 19 January 2024.

The five western regions (Aktobe, Atyrau, West Kazakhstan, Mangystau and Kyzylorda) were already on UTC+5 and did not change. Kyzylorda had moved there earlier, on 21 December 2018.

One trap for anyone reading the legal texts: older versions of the resolution numbered the zones “4th” and “5th”, where the “5th” meant UTC+6. The 2024 version puts the whole country in the “5th zone”, which now means UTC+5. Write “UTC+5” rather than a zone number to avoid confusion.

Sunrise moved an hour earlier

For travellers the most noticeable effect is that the sun now rises and sets an hour earlier by the clock.

Calculated by timeanddate.com: “before” figures are for 2023, “now” for June 2026 and December 2025. In practice, a summer sunrise shoot at Charyn Canyon means leaving Almaty in the middle of the night, while a December day trip has only about nine hours of daylight, ending soon after four in the afternoon. Plan long drives so you are off mountain roads before dark. Ideas for dawn shoots are on our photo spots page.

Trains, flights and SIM cards

Domestic train and flight timetables use local time, and with one zone there is no conversion between regions. Check any ticket bought before March 2024, or a printed timetable of that age, against the carrier’s current schedule. See trains in Kazakhstan and flights to Kazakhstan.

Phones on a local SIM or roaming set themselves automatically. If your phone shows the wrong hour, switch off manual time and let the network set it. More on local SIM cards is on the SIM page.

Is the old time coming back?

Not according to anything on record. The resolution in force in November 2026 applies UTC+5 to the whole country and has no later amendments. Since the switch:

• in August 2024 the Ministry of Trade and Integration rejected a petition to return to UTC+6 that had gathered 50,000 signatures, and recommended three years of research into health effects (Tengrinews);
• in September 2025 the Court of Cassation upheld the dismissal of a citizen’s lawsuit against the government over the change (Tengrinews).

Any reversal would need a new government resolution published on adilet.zan.kz. Until then, plan on UTC+5. Everything else to sort out before the trip is on before you go.