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Europe · GB
Shipping label for the United Kingdom
Fill in the recipient, print at 100 × 150 mm, and the locality lines come out in the order Royal Mail expects.
United Kingdom address format: how a local address is written
Recipient name first, then the street line, then the locality. In the United Kingdom the locality line reads: City on its own line, postal code on the line below it.
- Address layout
- City on its own line, postal code on the line below it.
- Postal code
- SW1A 1AA
- Code format
- Letters and digits combined. The form varies across the country, so copy the code exactly as the recipient gave it rather than reformatting it.
- State or province
- Not used
- Country line
- UNITED KINGDOM
- Local script
- Latin alphabet
- Currency
- GBP
- Dialling code
- +44
- Customs status
- Outside the EU
Addresses in the United Kingdom are written in the Latin alphabet: copy the street line exactly as the recipient gave it.
Local conventions worth getting right in United Kingdom
The postcode takes the final line on its own, in capitals, with a single space between its two halves: SW1A 2AA, never SW1A2AA. The post town on the line above is capitalised too and is required. Leave out commas and full stops entirely, and skip the county: the postcode already identifies the delivery point, and a county line can slow the sorting down.
If nobody is home when the parcel reaches United Kingdom
A missed Royal Mail parcel goes to the local delivery office and is held there for eighteen calendar days before it is returned to you, which is one of the longest windows in Europe and worth telling an anxious buyer. Redelivery has to be booked at least forty eight working hours ahead, so a customer who books on Friday is unlikely to see the parcel before the middle of the next week. If the item carries no usable return address it ends up at the National Returns Centre in Belfast rather than coming back to you.
Worked example: a parcel arriving in London
Sarah Whitfield 27 Weaver Street LONDON SW1A 1AA UNITED KINGDOM
The last line is the destination country in English capitals, so the exporting post office can sort the item without reading the local script.
The United Kingdom uses postal codes. A valid one looks like SW1A 1AA, the code for London.
The national postal operator is Royal Mail.
No state or province is used in a United Kingdom address. The city line and postal code are enough.
Generate a label for the United Kingdom
The destination is already set to the United Kingdom. The CN22 customs block appears on its own whenever the route needs one.
Shipment details
An address and handling label, not a carrier label: no postage, no tracking number. The barcode is your own order reference. Print it and add the carrier’s own label at drop-off.
Live label
This parcel needs a CN22 and this template has no room to print one. Switch to the portrait or landscape template, or attach the declaration to the parcel separately.
| - | 0.00 USD |
| HS code: - · US | 1.4 kg |
Ink on white, always. That is what a thermal printer gives you.
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Label history
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Customs status
The United Kingdom is outside the EU customs union, so every inbound parcel needs a customs declaration: a CN22 on the label itself below roughly 300 SDR, a CN23 on a separate sheet above it.
Track a parcel to United Kingdom
Have a tracking number for a parcel to the United Kingdom? Paste it here and Labelbench opens the carrier’s page with it filled in.
Inbound items are usually delivered by Royal Mail on the last leg, whichever carrier collected them.
Opens in a new tab. Your number goes to the carrier, not to us.
Sending to the United Kingdom from abroad
Once the parcel crosses a border, the last address line must read UNITED KINGDOM in Latin capitals and a customs declaration is required, unless the route stays inside the EU customs union.
Sending inside the United Kingdom
For a domestic parcel, drop the country line and the customs block. Everything else on the label stays the same.
Straight answers · United Kingdom
What this does, and what it does not
Is this an official postal label for the United Kingdom?
No, and no website can produce one. A carrier label carries a tracking number only Royal Mail or a courier can issue against your account. This is an address and handling label: print it, tape it to the box, and add the carrier’s tracking label beside it at drop-off.
Does a parcel sent to the United Kingdom need a customs form?
Only if the parcel starts in a different country. Domestic shipments inside the United Kingdom need no customs paperwork. For inbound international parcels, a CN22 is required below roughly 300 SDR and is added to the label automatically; heavier or more valuable consignments need a CN23 on a separate sheet.
Can I write the address in Latin alphabet?
Addresses in the United Kingdom are written in the Latin alphabet: copy the street line exactly as the recipient gave it.
Guides for shipping to United Kingdom
The format is only part of it: customs paperwork and handling are what send parcels back.
Shipping from the UK after Brexit
EU parcels need customs forms, and the CN22 was withdrawn in June 2026.
How to fill in a CN22 customs form
Every box explained, plus the three entries that get parcels stopped.
Declared value: what to write, and who pays the duty
What goes in the value box, and who gets the bill at the other end.
HS tariff codes: how to find the right one
Six digits that set the duty rate, and how to find yours without paying anyone.