Current Time in Morocco

Morocco has the most unusual DST system in the world. In 2018, the government permanently adopted UTC+1 (previously summer time). But there's a catch: during Ramadan, clocks go BACK one hour to UTC+0.

This is “reverse DST” — most countries spring forward and fall back seasonally; Morocco falls back for a religious month and springs forward after. The goal: make fasting hours shorter by ensuring sunrise comes an hour earlier on the clock.

Since Ramadan follows the Islamic lunar calendar (shifting ~11 days earlier each year), the dates of Morocco's clock changes are different every year and announced by royal decree. This creates a nightmare for timezone database maintainers — Morocco's IANA entry is one of the most frequently updated.

In a typical year, Moroccans change their clocks 4 times: back for Ramadan start, forward for Ramadan end. No other country does this.

Morocco's UTC+1 alignment with France (its largest trade partner) has made it a growing nearshoring destination for French and European companies. Casablanca's CasaNearshore tech park hosts offices for Atos, Capgemini, and CGI.

With French-Arabic bilingualism, competitive costs, and being just 14 km from Spain (across the Strait of Gibraltar), Morocco bridges Europe and Africa in both geography and business hours.