The Countries That Abolished Daylight Saving Time, and Those That Brought It Back

Daylight Saving Time (DST) was conceived during the First World War as a wartime coal-conservation measure. The German Empire implemented it first in April 1916, followed weeks later by the United Kingdom and France, and in 1918 by the United States.

Over the century that followed, dozens of nations adopted DST, repealed it, re-enacted it during crises, and abandoned it again.

The United States: Energy Crises and Repeals

The United States observed nationwide “War Time” during World War I and World War II, advancing clocks by one hour year-round. Between 1945 and 1966, the absence of federal regulation produced total chaos: states, cities, and transit systems chose their own changeover dates or declined participation altogether.

In response to the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, President Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act in January 1974, instituting year-round DST for an intended two-year trial. Public outrage over dark winter mornings and school bus accidents forced Congress to amend the law just eight months later, restoring standard time for winter 1974-1975.

Morocco: The Ramadan Exception

The Kingdom of Morocco presents one of the most distinctive modern DST implementations. In 2018, Morocco declared permanent UTC+1 for civil time. However, every year during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, Morocco temporarily suspends the policy:

• Clocks fall back by one hour to UTC+0 just before Ramadan begins.
• Clocks advance back to UTC+1 after Eid al-Fitr celebrations conclude.

Because the Islamic lunar calendar shifts approximately 10 to 11 days earlier in the Gregorian calendar each year, Morocco’s transition dates change constantly. The tzdb maintainers update these transition rules annually based on official government decrees. Explore Africa/Casablanca for details.

Turkey and Jordan

In 2016, Turkey abolished biannual clock changes, choosing permanent UTC+3 (advanced summer time). Jordan adopted permanent daylight time (UTC+3) in 2012, reverted to biannual changes in 2013, and in 2022 permanently adopted UTC+3 once again.

See the complete global state of daylight saving policy across all nations in our DST Explorer.