Postal code formats by country
Use this to validate form fields or spot an odd address. Formats can have exceptions; always prefer official postal sources for delivery.
| Country / region | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| United States | NNNNN or NNNNN-NNNN | 94107 / 10001-0001 |
| Canada | A0A 0A0 | K1A 0B1 |
| United Kingdom | A9 9AA / A99 9AA / AA9 9AA … | SW1A 1AA |
| Ireland | A65 F4E2 (Eircode) | D02 AF30 |
| Germany | NNNNN | 10115 |
| France | NNNNN | 75001 |
| Spain | NNNNN | 28013 |
| Italy | NNNNN | 00118 |
| Netherlands | NNNN AA | 1012 AB |
| Belgium | NNNN | 1000 |
| Switzerland | NNNN | 8001 |
| Sweden | NNN NN | 111 22 |
| Norway | NNNN | 0150 |
| Denmark | NNNN | 1050 |
| Poland | NN-NNN | 00-001 |
| Portugal | NNNN-NNN | 1000-001 |
| Brazil | NNNNN-NNN | 01310-100 |
| Mexico | NNNNN | 06600 |
| Argentina | A9999AAA / NNNN | C1000WAM |
| Japan | NNN-NNNN | 100-0001 |
| South Korea | NNNNN | 04524 |
| China (mainland) | NNNNNN | 100000 |
| Hong Kong | None (district addressing) | — |
| Taiwan | NNN / NNNNNN | 100 / 100233 |
| Singapore | NNNNNN | 018956 |
| India | NNNNNN (PIN) | 110001 |
| Australia | NNNN | 2000 |
| New Zealand | NNNN | 6011 |
| UAE | Often none / PO Box | — |
| Saudi Arabia | NNNNN | 11564 |
| Turkey | NNNNN | 34110 |
| Russia | NNNNNN | 101000 |
| South Africa | NNNN | 8001 |
Notes
- This lists common patterns only — not every valid code.
- Some places (Hong Kong, many UAE addresses) rely more on district / PO Box than a national ZIP.
How to read postal code patterns in this table
Postal codes are country-specific — never assume one global format fits every address field.
Each row shows a typical pattern for that country, not an exhaustive validator. Letters like A and N stand for any letter or digit respectively; spaces and hyphens in the example are part of the format users expect to see. Canada's A0A 0A0 alternates letters and digits, while Germany uses five digits with no separator. When you build a form, pair the pattern with the country selector — the same input box cannot safely accept both a US ZIP+4 and a UK outward code without context.
Common mistakes when validating postal codes
A 5-digit US ZIP and a 6-digit mainland China code both look numeric but follow completely different rules.
Teams often apply one regex globally and reject valid mail. UK postcodes need the space (SW1A 1AA, not SW1A1AA). Netherlands requires a space before the letter suffix (1012 AB). Brazil and Portugal use a hyphen in the middle (01310-100, 1000-001). Leading zeros matter: 00501 is valid in the US and 01000 is valid in Mexico. Do not strip punctuation before validation — capture it in the regex, then normalize only for your internal database if the carrier allows it.
Countries and regions without a national postal code
Hong Kong has no postal codes; mail is sorted by district name and full street address.
Several high-traffic markets in the table deliberately show “None” or em dash. Hong Kong, many UAE addresses, and some island territories rely on district, building name, and PO Box instead of a nationwide code. Ireland added Eircode (e.g. D02 AF30) but older habits still omit it on casual mail. If your checkout requires a postal code everywhere, offer an explicit “not applicable” path or make the field optional when the country is known to lack one — forcing digits creates fake codes that carriers bounce.
Using this table in software and shipping workflows
Validate with a country-specific regex, then verify against the official postal authority before shipping.
Treat this sheet as a pattern cheat sheet for UX hints and first-pass validation, not as a delivery guarantee. Autocomplete APIs from national posts (USPS, Royal Mail, La Poste, Japan Post) remain authoritative for whether a code exists and is in service. Log the country + raw user input + normalized form for support tickets. For bulk CSV imports, normalize Unicode spaces, reject mixed-country rows, and surface rows that match no pattern here for manual review rather than silently dropping mail.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the postal code format of Canada?
- Canadian postal codes follow the pattern A0A 0A0 — alternating letters and digits, e.g. K1A 0B1.
- How many digits does a US ZIP code have?
- A standard US ZIP code has 5 digits; the ZIP+4 form adds a hyphen and 4 more digits, e.g. 10001-0001.
- Does Hong Kong have postal codes?
- No. Hong Kong does not use postal codes; mail is sorted by district and the full address.
Canadian postal codes follow A0A 0A0 — alternating letters and digits, e.g. K1A 0B1.
A standard US ZIP code has exactly 5 digits; ZIP+4 adds a hyphen and 4 more.
Hong Kong does not use postal codes.