Egypt's winter trading hours: shops close at 10pm, restaurants at midnight
The winter timetable has applied since the last Friday of September under a 2020 ministerial decree, and shops may trade an hour later on Thursdays and Fridays.
31 October 2026
Shops, shopping centres and malls in Egypt may open to the public from 7am to 10pm under the winter trading timetable, and restaurants, cafés and bazaars from 5am until midnight.
Egypt Independent, setting out Article 6 of Local Development Ministry Decree 456 of 2020, says retail premises switched to the winter schedule on the last Friday of September. The move to winter time is a separate matter: it sets the official hour back by 60 minutes and does not itself fix trading hours.
Shops may stay open an hour later on Thursdays and Fridays and on public holidays and official observances. Restaurants and cafés get the same extra hour on holidays, to 1am. Home delivery may run around the clock regardless of when a kitchen closes.
Workshops and craft businesses are set at 8am to 6pm, with exceptions for those on main roads or at filling stations and for businesses providing urgent or essential services.
Several trades are exempt from the closing times altogether:
- Grocery shops, supermarkets and bakeries
- Greengrocers and poultry retailers
- Wholesale markets
- Pharmacies
The report sets out the national timetable and gives no separate hours for Red Sea tourist areas.