How daylight saving time works in Sweden
Updated 2026-09-19
Sweden observes daylight saving time, called sommartid (summer time) in Swedish. Clocks go forward one hour in spring and back one hour in autumn, on dates set by an EU-wide rule rather than chosen by each country.
The rule
Sweden uses Central European Time (CET, UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) in summer.
Clocks go forward on the last Sunday of March, from 02:00 to 03:00, and back on the last Sunday of October, from 03:00 to 02:00. Every EU country changes at the same moment, 01:00 UTC, so Stockholm, Paris and Berlin never disagree with each other about the time.
Why the gap to other cities changes
The time difference between two cities only stays fixed if both follow the same rule. Sweden and the United States both use daylight saving time, but on different dates. The US changes on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November, so Stockholm and New York are 5 hours apart for two to three weeks in spring and for one week in autumn, instead of the usual 6.
Bangladesh does not change its clocks, so Dhaka stays on UTC+6 all year. The gap between Stockholm and Dhaka is 5 hours in winter and 4 hours in summer. Portugal follows the EU rule and changes at the same moment as Sweden, so Lisbon stays exactly 1 hour behind Stockholm all year.
Will the changes stop?
The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end the twice-yearly change, but EU governments have not agreed a common way to do it, so Sweden still changes its clocks. Check back here if that changes.
Check the exact difference today
Because the gap moves during the year, do not rely on a number you remember from last season. The converters below use your browser's up-to-date time zone data and show the difference for any date and time you pick.