Guides
Time zone
Information as of 2026-09-21
Mongolian Standard Time is eight hours ahead of UTC, but the three far-western provinces run an hour behind the rest of the country.
UTC+08:00 nationally; UTC+07:00 in Khovd, Uvs and Bayan-Olgii
Mongolia does not currently observe daylight saving time. It has tried and abandoned it three times, most recently dropping it in 2017.
DST observed 1983-1998, 2001-2006 and 2015-2016; abolished February 2017
For travellers from Korea and Japan the offset is small enough that jet lag is negligible: Ulaanbaatar is one hour behind Seoul and Tokyo, which both run on UTC+09:00 year-round.
Ulaanbaatar = Seoul minus 1 hour = Tokyo minus 1 hour; UTC+8
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- Korean and Japanese visitors can ignore jet lag entirely; set your watch back one hour on landing and carry on.
- If your itinerary includes Bayan-Olgii for the eagle festival, check whether local schedules are quoted in western or national time; the hour difference catches people out.
- European and North American visitors should plan the first day lightly; the shift is seven to thirteen hours depending on origin.