Brazil time zone: Rio, São Paulo and the country's four zones

At a glance

The Brazil time zone for Rio and São Paulo

Brazil’s legal time zones are set by Decree 2.784 of 1913, in the text amended by later laws, the latest being Law 12.876 of 2013. The second zone, three hours behind Greenwich (UTC-3), covers the Federal District and the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Tocantins, Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Piauí, Maranhão, Pará and Amapá.

So Rio, São Paulo, Brasília, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Florianópolis and Foz do Iguaçu (in Paraná) all show the same time. In Brazil people usually call it Brasília time (horário de Brasília).

Brazil’s four time zones

What this means for a trip:

• Fernando de Noronha is one hour ahead of Rio. If you fly there, your watch moves forward. See our Fernando de Noronha page.
• Manaus is in the eastern part of Amazonas, so it is on UTC-4, one hour behind Rio. The same applies to Cuiabá and Campo Grande, the usual gateways to the Pantanal. Our Amazon trip page covers the region.
• Acre is two hours behind Rio.

When you book a domestic flight between zones, the departure and arrival times on the ticket are local times at each airport.

No daylight saving time

Decree 9.772 of 25 April 2019 ended daylight saving time (horário de verão) in the whole country. Since then Rio has stayed on UTC-3 all year. If a new decree brings it back, it will be published by the federal government, so check official sources close to your trip. The Observatório Nacional publishes the official Brazilian legal time for every zone.

How to work out the time difference with home

The gap between Rio and your city depends on your city’s offset from UTC, and that offset may change during the year if your country uses summer time. Rio does not change. A simple method:

1. Find your city’s current UTC offset (your phone’s world clock shows it).
2. Subtract it from Rio’s UTC-3.

Examples of the arithmetic:

If your country moves its clocks forward or back during your trip, the gap with Rio changes by one hour on that date. Keep this in mind for calls home and for online check-in deadlines.

Practical tips for travellers

• Set your phone to update the time zone automatically, and check it after flights to Noronha, Manaus or the Pantanal.
• Write meeting and pickup times in local time, and say which city if you are moving between zones.
• Long flights from Europe or Asia can mean a big shift. Plan a light first day: an airport transfer, check in, a walk on the beach.
• Check entry requirements on official websites.
• Our packing list has the rest of the practical prep.

What to tell us in your request

• Your dates and arrival flight time (local time in Rio)
• The city you are travelling from, so we can plan around jet lag
• Cities in Brazil you plan to visit, including any in other time zones
• How many people are travelling, and ages of any children
• What you need from us: transfers, guide, driver, a full plan
• The language your guide should speak

How we help

We are Vela Brasil, a team that plans trips in Rio and across Brazil. We pick vetted local providers, build the plan and stay your single contact before and during the trip. We set every pickup in local time and plan the first day around your flight, whether it is a simple airport transfer or a full two week Brazil itinerary across several regions, with a guide who speaks your language. Terms and payment are set out in the proposal; you pay nothing before you confirm.