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How to write an international address

One rule that never changes, and the local conventions that do.

By Alex Carter Published

There is no such thing as an international address format. There is one rule that applies everywhere, and then there is whatever the destination country does, which you have to follow.

The one rule: country last, in English, in capitals

The final line of the address is the destination country, written in English, in capital letters.

GERMANY, not Deutschland. JAPAN, not 日本. MOROCCO, not المغرب.

This is a Universal Postal Union convention and it exists for a practical reason. The parcel is sorted first by the post office in the country it leaves. That office has to route it internationally without necessarily being able to read the destination’s language or script. English capitals on the last line is the one thing every postal operator agrees to read.

Everything above that line is for the delivery office at the far end, and should be written the way that country expects.

Above the country line, follow local rules

This is where senders assume their own country’s habits apply. A few of the larger differences:

Where the postal code sits. Most of continental Europe puts it before the city on the same line: 10115 Berlin. The United Kingdom puts it alone on the final line before the country. The United States puts city, state and ZIP on one line in that order. Japan puts it first.

Whether a state is part of the address. The United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil and India need one. Most of Europe does not, and adding one does no harm but no good either.

Where the house number goes. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain put it after the street name. France and the UK put it before. Hauptstraße 15 and 15 Rue de la Paix are both correct, in their own countries.

Whether commas are wanted. Germany asks for none between postal code and city. Spain asks for one between street name and number. The UK asks for none at all. These are not stylistic preferences, they are what the automated sorters were trained on.

Should you transliterate?

If the destination uses a non-Latin script, write the address in the Latin alphabet. The exporting post office has to read enough of it to route the item, and the delivery office can read both.

Adding the local-script version underneath does no harm and often helps the courier on the final leg, particularly in countries where street naming is inconsistent. Put the Latin version on top.

The exception is the country line, which stays in English capitals regardless.

Worked examples

Germany

Frau Anna Weber
Hauptstraße 15
10115 Berlin
GERMANY

Number after the street. No comma between the code and the city. No state.

United States

MS JANE DOE
245 W 29TH STREET APT 4B
NEW YORK NY 10001
UNITED STATES

City, state, ZIP on one line. USPS prefers capitals throughout and no punctuation.

United Kingdom

Ms A Hughes
14 Castle Street
BRISTOL
BS1 3AG
UNITED KINGDOM

Post town in capitals, postcode alone on its own line, no county.

Japan, in Latin script

Kenji Tanaka
1-2-3 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tokyo 104-0061
JAPAN

Written in Japanese the order runs largest unit to smallest. Written in Latin script for an inbound parcel it reverses.

A country with no postal code

Ahmed Al Mansouri
PO Box 12345
Dubai
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Emirates have no postal code system at all. Delivery runs on a PO Box, or a full street address with a mobile number the courier can call.

Things that help everywhere

  • Include a phone number on international parcels. Couriers use it, and customs may need to reach the recipient.
  • Write it, do not print it small. If you are handwriting, use capitals.
  • Put the address on the largest flat face of the parcel, not across a seam or over tape.
  • One address only. Cross out or cover any old label completely. Two barcodes on a box is how parcels go to the wrong place twice.

What this site does

Labelbench holds the address layout for 138 destinations and puts the lines in the order that country’s post office expects, adds the country line in English capitals when the parcel crosses a border, and warns when a postal code does not look like the destination’s format.

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