Postcode

United Kingdom postcodes

Q: What is the postcode format in United Kingdom?

United Kingdom postcodes follow the pattern @# #@@|@## #@@|@@# #@@|@@## #@@|@#@ #@@|@@#@ #@@|GIR0AA (# = digit, @ = letter). Examples: EC1Y 8SY, GIR 0AA, M2 5BQ, M34 4AB, CR0 2YR, DN16 9AA.

United Kingdom postcodes have the format @# #@@|@## #@@|@@# #@@|@@## #@@|@#@ #@@|@@#@ #@@|GIR0AA, for example EC1Y 8SY. zipcodestack has 2,680,239 postcodes for United Kingdom in 4 regions.

Format: @# #@@|@## #@@|@@# #@@|@@## #@@|@#@ #@@|@@#@ #@@|GIR0AA
Example: EC1Y 8SY
Codes in our database: 2,680,239
Local name: postcode

United Kingdom postcode format

Pattern	@# #@@\|@## #@@\|@@# #@@\|@@## #@@\|@#@ #@@\|@@#@ #@@\|GIR0AA (# digit, @ letter)
Examples	EC1Y 8SY, GIR 0AA, M2 5BQ, M34 4AB, CR0 2YR, DN16 9AA
Regex	`^(?:GIR ?0AA\|(?:(?:AB\|AL\|B\|BA\|BB\|BD\|BF\|BH\|BL\|BN\|BR\|BS\|BT\|BX\|CA\|CB\|CF\|CH\|CM\|CO\|CR\|CT\|CV\|CW\|DA\|DD\|DE\|DG\|DH\|DL\|DN\|DT\|DY\|E\|EC\|EH\|EN\|EX\|FK\|FY\|G\|GL\|GY\|GU\|HA\|HD\|HG\|HP\|HR\|HS\|HU\|HX\|IG\|IM\|IP\|IV\|JE\|KA\|KT\|KW\|KY\|L\|LA\|LD\|LE\|LL\|LN\|LS\|LU\|M\|ME\|MK\|ML\|N\|NE\|NG\|NN\|NP\|NR\|NW\|OL\|OX\|PA\|PE\|PH\|PL\|PO\|PR\|RG\|RH\|RM\|S\|SA\|SE\|SG\|SK\|SL\|SM\|SN\|SO\|SP\|SR\|SS\|ST\|SW\|SY\|TA\|TD\|TF\|TN\|TQ\|TR\|TS\|TW\|UB\|W\|WA\|WC\|WD\|WF\|WN\|WR\|WS\|WV\|YO\|ZE)(?:\d[\dA-Z]? ?\d[ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}))\|BFPO ?\d{1,4})$`
Official lookup	www.royalmail.com

Format and regex from Google's address metadata (libaddressinput). The regex checks the shape of a code, not whether it exists.

Postcode Districts by region

Region	Range	Codes
England	AL1 – YO91	2,256
Northern Ireland	BT1 – BT94	81
Scotland	AB10 – ZE3	455
Wales	CF3 – SY25	209

Postcode Districts of the largest cities

UK postcodes have two parts. These lists show the first part, the postcode district (outward code), e.g. SW1A. A full postcode such as SW1A 1AA covers around 15 addresses; the zipcodestack API covers 2.6 million full UK postcodes.

Neighbouring countries

🇮🇪 Ireland@@@ @@@@

United Kingdom postcodes: FAQ

What is the postcode format in United Kingdom?

United Kingdom postcodes follow the pattern @# #@@|@## #@@|@@# #@@|@@## #@@|@#@ #@@|@@#@ #@@|GIR0AA (# = digit, @ = letter). Examples: EC1Y 8SY, GIR 0AA, M2 5BQ, M34 4AB, CR0 2YR, DN16 9AA.

What regex validates United Kingdom postcodes?

^(?:GIR ?0AA|(?:(?:AB|AL|B|BA|BB|BD|BF|BH|BL|BN|BR|BS|BT|BX|CA|CB|CF|CH|CM|CO|CR|CT|CV|CW|DA|DD|DE|DG|DH|DL|DN|DT|DY|E|EC|EH|EN|EX|FK|FY|G|GL|GY|GU|HA|HD|HG|HP|HR|HS|HU|HX|IG|IM|IP|IV|JE|KA|KT|KW|KY|L|LA|LD|LE|LL|LN|LS|LU|M|ME|MK|ML|N|NE|NG|NN|NP|NR|NW|OL|OX|PA|PE|PH|PL|PO|PR|RG|RH|RM|S|SA|SE|SG|SK|SL|SM|SN|SO|SP|SR|SS|ST|SW|SY|TA|TD|TF|TN|TQ|TR|TS|TW|UB|W|WA|WC|WD|WF|WN|WR|WS|WV|YO|ZE)(?:\d[\dA-Z]? ?\d[ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}))|BFPO ?\d{1,4})$

matches the official format (from Google's address metadata). It checks the shape only; whether a code exists needs a lookup in a postal code database such as the zipcodestack API.

What is the postcode of London?

London has 58 postcodes, starting with E1W. The right one depends on the street; see the full list for London.

How many postcodes are there in United Kingdom?

The zipcodestack database contains 2,680,239 postcodes for United Kingdom, each with place name, region and coordinates.

Postal code API

Look up United Kingdom postcodes by API

zipcodestack looks up, validates and searches postal codes in 149 countries: city, state, coordinates, distances and radius search, as JSON.

/v1/search documentation International postal code API All documentation

300 free requests every month. No credit card required.

GET https://api.zipcodestack.com/v1/search?codes=EC1Y+8SY&country=gb

{
  "results": {
    "EC1Y 8SY": [{
      "postal_code": "EC1Y 8SY",
      "country_code": "GB",
      "city": "…",
      "state": "…",
      "latitude": …,
      "longitude": …
    }]
  }
}

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