A minority of countries use daylight saving time (DST), mostly in Europe, North America, and parts of the Middle East and Oceania, while most of Africa and Asia do not use it at all. Around one‑third of countries worldwide currently change their clocks seasonally, and that share has been shrinking as some governments abolish DST.

Where DST is common

These regions largely do observe some form of daylight saving time:

  • Europe (most of it):
    • European Union and many neighbors: Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Norway, etc., typically switching to “summer time” in late March and back in late October.
* A few nearby countries do not use DST, such as Russia, Belarus, and Turkey, which have stayed on permanent time instead.
  • North America:
    • United States and Canada mostly use DST, with some exceptions like parts of Arizona and most of Saskatchewan.
* Mexico largely ended DST nationally in 2022, but some northern border areas still follow U.S. schedules to stay in sync.
  • Middle East:
    • Some countries use DST (for example, parts of the Levant have historically changed clocks), while others that used to switch—such as Iran, Jordan, and Syria—have recently stopped.
  • Oceania and South America (patchy use):
    • Parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory) observe DST, while Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory do not.
* A few South American countries have used DST seasonally in certain states or years, though several have abolished it in the last decade.

Where DST is rare or absent

Large parts of the world either never adopted DST or have abolished it:

  • Africa:
    • Almost all African countries stay on the same time year‑round, with no clock changes.
  • Most of Asia:
    • Major countries such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, and many Southeast Asian nations do not use DST.
* Some, like Pakistan or Singapore, tried it briefly in the past and then reverted to permanent standard time.
  • Latin America and the Caribbean:
    • Many countries experimented with DST and then stopped, including Uruguay, parts of Brazil, and others, often citing energy, health, or public confusion.
* Island territories in the Caribbean commonly remain on a fixed time all year.

Why fewer countries are doing DST

Several countries that once changed clocks have recently moved away from the practice:

  • Governments and researchers have raised concerns about:
    • Health impacts from sudden sleep disruption.
    • Limited or unclear energy savings in modern, air‑conditioned economies.
    • Confusion for travel, business, and digital systems.
  • Over the past decade, countries such as Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Samoa, Syria, and Uruguay have ended their seasonal clock changes and stayed on one time instead.

Big picture

  • Only about one‑third of countries worldwide still do daylight saving time in some form, and most of them are clustered in Europe and North America.
  • The global trend over the last several years has been for more countries to drop DST and stay on permanent standard or permanent “summer” time.

Bottom line: if you are in Europe, the U.S., Canada, or parts of Australia, you probably still change clocks twice a year; if you are in most of Asia, Africa, or Latin America, you probably never touch the clocks at all.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.