Mainland Chile changes its clocks twice a year, in the opposite direction to the Northern Hemisphere. Winter time begins on the first Saturday in April, when midnight becomes 11:00 p.m., and summer time returns on the first Saturday in September, when midnight becomes 1:00 a.m. In 2027 the changes fall on the nights of 3 April and 4 September. Two southern regions, Magallanes and Aysén, do not change at all.

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Next clock change in Chile

Local time in each place. Computed from the IANA time zone database.

All clock changes 2026–2028: Santiago

The Rule: Midnight on the First Saturday

Chile makes its change at 24:00 on a Saturday, not in the small hours of Sunday. In April, when Saturday ends, the clock goes back to 23:00 and the last hour of Saturday is lived twice; mainland Chile is then four hours behind Universal Time. In September the clock jumps from 24:00 on Saturday straight to 1:00 on Sunday, and the country is three hours behind Universal Time until the following April. Summer time therefore lasts seven months and winter time five. The dates are set by supreme decree of the Ministry of the Interior, and they have been moved many times: in 2015 Chile abolished winter time altogether, kept summer time for a year, and brought the change back in 2016 after dark winter mornings proved unpopular.

Magallanes and Aysén Stay on Summer Time

The far south has opted out. The Magallanes Region, with Punta Arenas and Chilean Antarctica, has kept summer time all year since 2017, because at 53 degrees south the winter afternoon is short and an extra hour of evening light matters more than a light morning. The Aysén Region, with Coyhaique, joined it in 2025. Both are three hours behind Universal Time throughout the year, so from April to September they are one hour ahead of Santiago. Anyone flying from Santiago to Punta Arenas in winter has to put the watch forward, something visitors to Torres del Paine regularly miss.

Easter Island

Easter Island and the islet of Salas y Gómez are two hours behind the mainland, and they change on the same nights, at the same instant. Because of the two-hour difference the change there happens at 22:00 on Saturday: in April the island goes from 22:00 back to 21:00, to six hours behind Universal Time, and in September from 22:00 forward to 23:00, to five hours behind. The island lies so far west of the meridian of its time zone that the sun sets very late by the clock, after nine at night in summer. Flights from Santiago take about five and a half hours and land, by the local clock, only three and a half hours after leaving.

Born in Chile? What to Check for a Birth Chart

Chilean birth times are harder to convert than they look, because the dates of the change have been altered by decree again and again: extended in drought years to save electricity, shortened, suspended in 2015, restored in 2016, and moved from March and October to April and September. A birth in the same week of March can be on summer time in one year and winter time in another. Births in Magallanes since 2017 and in Aysén since 2025 are always three hours behind Universal Time. With the hour wrong, the Ascendant is about fifteen degrees out and the Rising sign may be the neighbouring one. Every one of those decrees is recorded in the data our natal chart calculator uses.

Frequently asked

When does the time change in Chile in 2027?

On the night of Saturday 3 April 2027 clocks go back one hour at midnight, and on the night of Saturday 4 September 2027 they go forward one hour at midnight.

Does Punta Arenas change its clocks?

No. The Magallanes Region has kept summer time all year since 2017, and the Aysén Region since 2025.

What is the time difference between Santiago and Easter Island?

Two hours all year. Easter Island changes its clocks on the same nights as the mainland.

Clock changes by country