
The timezone RET in Reunion
Timezones are always computed by their difference to UTC, the "Universal Time Coordinated". In Reunion there is only a single tonezone at UTC+. For example, New York is currently at UTC-4 in Eastern Time, so the time difference between New York and Reunion is 4 hours.Reunion has no time difference between summer and winter. A daylight saving time doesn't exist.
Back to overview: Reunion
Current time in all regions of Reunion:
00:00
May 2023
Only 1 nationwide time zone
Standard time: | UTC +4 | Reunion Time (RET) |
Daylight saving time: | - | none |
Reunion has an east-west extension of 0.5 degrees of longitude. Given the country's location in Eastern Africa, this corresponds to about 55 kilometers. With such a small extent the course of the sun at different positions in the country hardly matters. The position of the sun in the west of the country deviates from that in the east only about 2 minutes. This means the sun rises and sets 2 minutes later in the west than in the east.

No daylight saving time in Reunion
Due to the sun's orbit around the equator, the days are longer in summer (November to February in the southern hemisphere). Countries that switch to daylight saving time in the summer months align the daylight phase with the human rhythm. Unused bright morning hours are thus shifted into the evening (more information on daylight saving time here).Due to the relative proximity to the equator, the impact in Reunion is not particularly large. Saint-Denis is only 2,350 km from the equator. A day in midsummer would then not last from 05:33 to 18:59, but from 06:33 to 19:59. The effect would be quite noticeable in the evening, but the sun rising later in the morning falls at a time when many people are already awake. Thus, daylight saving time was never introduced in Reunion.