Mexico City is 9 hours behind Cairo for most of the year: when it is 10:00 am in Cairo it is 1:00 am in Mexico City. In offset terms Cairo is on UTC+02:00 and Mexico City is on UTC-06:00 in January, and UTC+03:00 and UTC-06:00 in July. The converter above works from your browser’s own time zone data, so the figure it shows is the one in force today rather than the one that was in force when this page was written.
The difference is not constant, because only one of the two cities observes daylight saving. In 2026, Cairo changes on 24 April and 30 October and Mexico City does not change at all. That leaves 3 distinct periods in the year, and the table below gives the exact dates. It is the short windows that catch people out: a recurring call booked in one city’s clock silently moves in the other’s.
There is no overlap in office hours at all. Cairo works 09:00 to 17:00 and Mexico City works 09:00 to 18:00, and with 9 hours between them one city has closed before the other opens. Anything live has to be early for one side or late for the other; 17:00 to 18:00 in Cairo, which is 08:00 to 09:00 in Mexico City, is usually the least painful compromise. The working weeks differ: Cairo works Sunday to Thursday while Mexico City works Monday to Friday, which leaves three shared days at each end of the week and two mismatched ones.
Two local details worth knowing. Egypt reinstated daylight saving in 2023 after eight years without it, so older conversion tables for Cairo are wrong for part of the year. Mexico abolished nationwide daylight saving in 2022, so the gap to the United States now changes when the US switches rather than when Mexico does.
Write the invitation in both clocks. "10:00 Cairo / 01:00 Mexico City" removes the ambiguity that abbreviations introduce — Cairo alone is read as EET in winter and EEST in summer, and calendar software will happily convert one into the other without telling you.
The formula
local Cairo- The time you enter, on the Cairo clock
offset- Each city’s UTC offset at that moment, read live from the IANA time zone database in your browser
−9- The difference in hours that holds for most of 2026: Mexico City is 9 hours behind Cairo
day shift- Whether the converted time falls on the previous, same or next calendar day in Mexico City
How it works, step by step
- Enter a time in Cairo using the 24-hour hour box and the minute box — 15:30 is hour 15, minute 30.
- Your browser reports the UTC offset in force in Cairo and in Mexico City for that moment, so a date near a daylight saving transition is handled correctly rather than with a fixed 9 hour rule.
- The second offset minus the first gives the difference, which is added to the time you entered. A result past midnight is marked as the next or previous day, because that is where most conversion mistakes live.
- The panel also shows the current time in both cities, the date in Mexico City, and whether the two offices are open at the same moment.
Worked examples
09:00 in Cairo
09:00 in Cairo is 00:00 in Mexico City — the middle of the night in Mexico City. In 12-hour terms, 9:00 am against 12:00 am. Only one of the two offices is open at that moment, so it is worth offering rather than assuming.
12:00 in Cairo
12:00 in Cairo is 03:00 in Mexico City — the middle of the night in Mexico City. In 12-hour terms, 12:00 pm against 3:00 am. Only one of the two offices is open at that moment, so it is worth offering rather than assuming.
16:00 in Cairo
16:00 in Cairo is 07:00 in Mexico City — before the working day starts in Mexico City. In 12-hour terms, 4:00 pm against 7:00 am. Only one of the two offices is open at that moment, so it is worth offering rather than assuming.
The 1 January window, when the usual answer is wrong
Between 1 January and 23 April the difference is -08:00 rather than -09:00, because one city has changed its clocks and the other has not. In that window 10:00 in Cairo is 02:00 in Mexico City, an hour away from where a fixed-offset table would put it.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many hours behind Cairo is Mexico City?
Mexico City is 9 hours behind Cairo for most of 2026, so 09:00 in Cairo is 00:00 in Mexico City. The difference changes during the daylight saving changeovers, and the table on this page lists every period in the year with its exact dates.
What is 2 pm Cairo time in Mexico City?
5:00 am, the middle of the night in Mexico City. In 24-hour form 14:00 in Cairo is 05:00 in Mexico City, and that is outside working hours in Mexico City.
What is the best time to call between Cairo and Mexico City?
There is no time when both offices are open, so one side has to step outside its normal hours. The two least disruptive options are 08:00 in Cairo, which is 23:00 in Mexico City, or 17:00 in Cairo, which is 08:00 in Mexico City.
Is Mexico City ahead of or behind Cairo?
Mexico City is behind. Cairo is at UTC+02:00 and Mexico City is at UTC-06:00 in mid-January, and UTC+03:00 and UTC-06:00 in mid-July. The clock moves back going from Cairo to Mexico City, which is why Cairo reaches the end of its working day first.
Do Cairo and Mexico City change their clocks on the same date?
No. In 2026, Cairo changes on 24 April 2026 and 30 October 2026, and Mexico City does not change its clocks at all. That is why the difference between them takes 2 different values across the year rather than one.
What do the abbreviations for Cairo mean?
Cairo is on EET in winter and EEST in summer, while Mexico City uses CST and CST. Abbreviations are the least reliable way to write a time: several are ambiguous between regions, and the summer and winter forms are an hour apart. A UTC offset, or the time given in both cities, cannot be misread.
Does this converter stay correct after the clocks change?
Yes. It does not use a stored number for the difference. Each time you change a value it asks your browser for the UTC offset that Africa/Cairo and America/Mexico_City are on at that moment, using the IANA time zone database that ships with your operating system, and takes the difference. The tables on this page are computed from the same database for 2026.
Are the working weeks the same in Cairo and Mexico City?
No. Cairo works Sun-Thu and Mexico City works Mon-Fri, so part of one city’s week falls on the other’s weekend. Check the day as well as the hour before proposing a slot.
Cairo to Mexico City: every hour, every period of 2026, and meeting slots
| Cairo (24h) | Cairo (12h) | Mexico City (24h) | Mexico City (12h) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 12:00 am | 15:00 (previous day) | 3:00 pm (previous day) | office hours in Mexico City |
| 01:00 | 1:00 am | 16:00 (previous day) | 4:00 pm (previous day) | office hours in Mexico City |
| 02:00 | 2:00 am | 17:00 (previous day) | 5:00 pm (previous day) | office hours in Mexico City |
| 03:00 | 3:00 am | 18:00 (previous day) | 6:00 pm (previous day) | outside office hours |
| 04:00 | 4:00 am | 19:00 (previous day) | 7:00 pm (previous day) | outside office hours |
| 05:00 | 5:00 am | 20:00 (previous day) | 8:00 pm (previous day) | outside office hours |
| 06:00 | 6:00 am | 21:00 (previous day) | 9:00 pm (previous day) | outside office hours |
| 07:00 | 7:00 am | 22:00 (previous day) | 10:00 pm (previous day) | outside office hours |
| 08:00 | 8:00 am | 23:00 (previous day) | 11:00 pm (previous day) | outside office hours |
| 09:00 | 9:00 am | 00:00 | 12:00 am | office hours in Cairo |
| 10:00 | 10:00 am | 01:00 | 1:00 am | office hours in Cairo |
| 11:00 | 11:00 am | 02:00 | 2:00 am | office hours in Cairo |
| 12:00 | 12:00 pm | 03:00 | 3:00 am | office hours in Cairo |
| 13:00 | 1:00 pm | 04:00 | 4:00 am | office hours in Cairo |
| 14:00 | 2:00 pm | 05:00 | 5:00 am | office hours in Cairo |
| 15:00 | 3:00 pm | 06:00 | 6:00 am | office hours in Cairo |
| 16:00 | 4:00 pm | 07:00 | 7:00 am | office hours in Cairo |
| 17:00 | 5:00 pm | 08:00 | 8:00 am | outside office hours |
| 18:00 | 6:00 pm | 09:00 | 9:00 am | office hours in Mexico City |
| 19:00 | 7:00 pm | 10:00 | 10:00 am | office hours in Mexico City |
| 20:00 | 8:00 pm | 11:00 | 11:00 am | office hours in Mexico City |
| 21:00 | 9:00 pm | 12:00 | 12:00 pm | office hours in Mexico City |
| 22:00 | 10:00 pm | 13:00 | 1:00 pm | office hours in Mexico City |
| 23:00 | 11:00 pm | 14:00 | 2:00 pm | office hours in Mexico City |
Computed at a difference of -9 hours, which is the one that holds for most of 2026. During the transition windows in the table below, shift the right-hand columns by an hour.
| Period | Length | Cairo offset | Mexico City offset | Difference | Abbreviations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Jan to 23 Apr | 113 days | UTC+02:00 | UTC-06:00 | -8:00 | EET / CST |
| 24 Apr to 29 Oct | 189 days | UTC+03:00 | UTC-06:00 | -9:00 | EEST / CST |
| 30 Oct to 31 Dec | 63 days | UTC+02:00 | UTC-06:00 | -8:00 | EET / CST |
Every row is read from the IANA time zone database. Short periods appear where one city has changed its clocks and the other has not yet done so.
| Cairo | 12-hour | Mexico City | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:00 | 6:00 am | 21:00 (previous day) | Outside both |
| 06:30 | 6:30 am | 21:30 (previous day) | Outside both |
| 07:00 | 7:00 am | 22:00 (previous day) | Outside both |
| 07:30 | 7:30 am | 22:30 (previous day) | Outside both |
| 08:00 | 8:00 am | 23:00 (previous day) | Outside both |
| 08:30 | 8:30 am | 23:30 (previous day) | Outside both |
| 09:00 | 9:00 am | 00:00 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 09:30 | 9:30 am | 00:30 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 10:00 | 10:00 am | 01:00 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 10:30 | 10:30 am | 01:30 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 11:00 | 11:00 am | 02:00 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 11:30 | 11:30 am | 02:30 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 12:00 | 12:00 pm | 03:00 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 12:30 | 12:30 pm | 03:30 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 13:00 | 1:00 pm | 04:00 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 13:30 | 1:30 pm | 04:30 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 14:00 | 2:00 pm | 05:00 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 14:30 | 2:30 pm | 05:30 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 15:00 | 3:00 pm | 06:00 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 15:30 | 3:30 pm | 06:30 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 16:00 | 4:00 pm | 07:00 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 16:30 | 4:30 pm | 07:30 | Too early in Mexico City |
| 17:00 | 5:00 pm | 08:00 | Outside both |
| 17:30 | 5:30 pm | 08:30 | Outside both |
| 18:00 | 6:00 pm | 09:00 | After hours in Cairo |
| 18:30 | 6:30 pm | 09:30 | After hours in Cairo |
| 19:00 | 7:00 pm | 10:00 | After hours in Cairo |
| 19:30 | 7:30 pm | 10:30 | After hours in Cairo |
| 20:00 | 8:00 pm | 11:00 | After hours in Cairo |
| 20:30 | 8:30 pm | 11:30 | After hours in Cairo |
| 21:00 | 9:00 pm | 12:00 | After hours in Cairo |
| 21:30 | 9:30 pm | 12:30 | After hours in Cairo |
Office hours taken as 09:00–17:00 in Cairo and 09:00–18:00 in Mexico City, which are the customary hours in each city rather than a generic nine to five.