Current time in Zürich, Switzerland
The current local time in Zürich is shown below. Zürich observes CET in winter and CEST during daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time
Sunrise & sunset today
Timezone facts
Zürich in context
Zurich sits at the northern tip of Lake Zurich in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the largest Swiss city with around 435,000 residents in the municipality and a wider metropolitan area of around 1.4 million. The Limmat River flows from the lake through the city centre, and the surrounding Alpine foothills shape the topography. Despite its modest population, Zurich is consistently ranked among the world's most expensive cities and houses the largest Swiss commercial banks.
Timezone history of Zürich
Switzerland sits within Central European Time despite not being an EU member, and observes the EU's DST schedule by parallel legislation. Zurich shares the offset with Berlin and Vienna, with no border-crossing time difference into Germany or Austria. The Swiss exception to the EU's pending DST abolition debate has not been formally tested, but Switzerland would likely follow whatever the EU ultimately decides to maintain alignment with its largest trading partners.
Working hours in Zürich
Zurich's working day runs 08:00 to 17:30, with the financial sector starting earlier (around 07:30) to manage trading-floor responsibilities. Swiss working culture emphasises punctuality and discrete lunch breaks of around an hour, often taken in office canteens rather than restaurants. National public holidays in Switzerland are determined cantonally rather than federally, with Zurich canton observing fewer than its Catholic-majority French- and Italian-speaking counterparts. August 1st (Swiss National Day) is the major national observance.