UK postcodes, dialling codes & regions
A complete, searchable local reference for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Validate a postcode and identify its area, district and region; look up telephone dialling codes; and browse every postcode area, county, council area and English region — all on this page.
Validate a postcode
How UK postcodes work
The format
A postcode has an outward code (postcode area + district, e.g. SW1A) and an inward code (sector + unit, e.g. 1AA). Formats vary: B1 1AA, M60 1NW, EC1A 1BB. The first one or two letters are the postcode area.
The hierarchy
Area (EH) → district (EH1) → sector (EH1 1) → unit (EH1 1AA). There are 121 postcode areas and roughly 1.8 million live postcodes in total. The code GIR 0AA is reserved for Girobank.
Telephone area codes
Geographic UK numbers use STD codes such as 020 (London), 0161 (Manchester) and 0131 (Edinburgh). Non-geographic ranges (03, 0800, 0845, 09) are used UK-wide. To call from abroad, dial +44 and drop the leading zero.
Countries & regions
The United Kingdom comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England is divided into nine official regions used for statistics and local government. Scotland has 32 council areas, Wales 22 principal areas and Northern Ireland 11 districts.
Browse the reference tables
Royal Mail postcode finder ↗All 121 postcode areas of the United Kingdom with their principal town or city, the districts they cover and the counties or council areas they serve.
| Area | Principal town / city | Districts | Country | Counties served |
|---|
Geographic (STD) codes for major cities and regions, plus UK-wide non-geographic ranges. To call from abroad use +44 and drop the leading zero.
| Code | Location | Type | Region | Notes |
|---|
The 49 English ceremonial counties, 32 Scottish council areas, 22 Welsh principal areas and the historic counties of Northern Ireland, with the regions and postcode areas that cover them.
| County / council area | Region | Country | Postcode areas & principal towns |
|---|
England
Nine official regions: North East, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West. 48 ceremonial counties plus the City of London.
Capital: London · Dialling: 020 for London, 0113 Leeds, 0121 Birmingham, 0161 Manchester.
Scotland
32 council areas including the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Stirling. Postcode areas include AB, DD, DG, EH, FK, G, HS, IV, KA, KW, KY, ML, PA, PH, TD and ZE.
Capital: Edinburgh · Dialling: 0131 Edinburgh, 0141 Glasgow, 01224 Aberdeen.
Wales
22 principal areas, including Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Wrexham and Gwynedd. Postcode areas: CF, LD, LL, NP, SA and SY.
Capital: Cardiff · Dialling: 029 Cardiff, 01792 Swansea, 01978 Wrexham.
Northern Ireland
11 districts across the six historic counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. A single postcode area, BT, covers the whole province.
Capital: Belfast · Dialling: 028 for the whole of Northern Ireland.
Crown dependencies
The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey are Crown Dependencies: not part of the United Kingdom, but covered by UK dialling conventions and, in part, by the UK VAT area rules for the Isle of Man.
Dialling: 01624 Isle of Man, 01534 Jersey, 01481 Guernsey.
Non-geographic numbers
03 numbers cost the same as a geographic call. 0800 and 0808 are free from most phones. 084, 087 and 09 numbers carry a service charge and are regulated by Ofcom.
Mobile: 071–075 and 077–079 · Freephone: 0800 / 0808.