Country Code Prefix

What is this, and what does it mean?

Many people mistakenly believe that the first few digits of the barcode numbers show the country of origin of the product. However, the barcode number says NOTHING accurate about the product’s country of origin. The only thing that these first few digits show is which country the barcode number itself was issued in. This means products that come from any specific country can have any barcode number on them. Please see GS1’s website about this.

535 is the prefix for GS1 Malta

Barcode numbers beginning with specifically assigned country codes are the barcode numbers that come directly from GS1 in a specific country OR are issued by an official standards agency in that country. If you see barcode resellers selling EAN numbers starting with your country code, watch out! They are almost certainly selling fake, made up numbers. The only exception to this is the USA, as all barcode numbers which can be legally resold are US numbers.

In countries where GS1 exists, the ONLY legal way to get to start with these assigned country codes is to join GS1 – this means completing their membership forms and paying a joining fee and annual membership fees to GS1 – which is VERY expensive (GS1 only license the numbers to you – so you have to pay their annual fees every year for the rest of your product life). Please read this article by Peter Strong (head of the Council of Small Business of Australia) on ‘shadow regulators.’ These are not for profit organisations that have monopolistic control over the business community.

In countries where there is a non-GS1 Standards Body, the country-specific numbers can be obtained from that body, or the International Barcodes Network agency in that country.

barcode with made in NZ above

If you want to demonstrate that your product is made in your own country, e.g., Malta, then the best way to do this is to print “Made in Malta” or similar on the product. This is an advertising claim and must be provable if challenged. (Some manufacturers also print “Made in Malta” directly above the barcode to help customers).

The myth of the barcode number showing the country of origin of the product has been thoroughly debunked. Please see this Snopes article on the origins of this misconception as well as a debunking of it.

All barcodes and barcode systems are designed for international use, so there are virtually no restrictions based on the country of origin worldwide. See our barcode acceptance page for an up to date list of the few shops worldwide that have barcoding restrictions.

We are a member of an international network of barcode sellers that have customers in more than 120 countries using our barcodes without any problems.

Below is a list of country codes from GS1 organisations and other Standards Agencies around the world:

0USA / Canada
1USA
30–37France & Monaco
380Bulgaria
383Slovenia
385Croatia
387Bosnia & Herzegovina
389Montenegro
390Kosovo
40–44Germany
45Japan
46Russia
470Kyrgyzstan
471Taiwan
474Estonia
475Latvia
476Azerbaijan
477Lithuania
478Uzbekistan
479Sri Lanka
480Philippines
481Belarus
482Ukraine
483Turkmenistan
484Moldava
485Armenia
486Georgia
487Kazakhstan
488Tajikaistan
489Hong Kong
49Japan
50United Kingdom
520, 521Greece
528Lebanon
529Cyprus
530Albania
531Macedonia
535Malta
539Ireland
54Belgium & Luxembourg
560Portugal
569Iceland
570Denmark
590Poland
594Romania
599Hungary
600–601South Africa
602Benin
603Ghana
604Senegal
608Bahrain
609Mauritius
611Marocco
613Algeria
615Nigeria
616Kenya
618Côte d’Ivoire
619Tunisia
620Tanzania
621Syria
622Egypt
623Brunei
624Libya
625Jordan
626Iran
627Kuwait
628Saudi-Arabia
629United Arab Emirates
64Finland
660Benin – issued by ANM Benin
69China
70Norway
729Israel
73Sweden
740Guatemala
741El Salvador
742Honduras
743Nicaragua
744Costa Rica
745Panama
746Dominican Republic
750Mexico
754–755Canada
759Venezuela
760–769Schwitzerland & Liechtenstein
770-771Colombia
773Uruguay
775Peru
777Bolivia
779Argentina
780Chile
784Paraguay
786Ecuador
789-790Brazil
800–839Italy
840–849Spain
850Cuba
858Slovakia
859Czech Republic
860Serbia
865Mongolia
867North Korea
868–869Turkey
87Netherlands
880South Korea
885Thailand
888Singapore
890India
893Vietnam
896Pakistan
899Indonesia
90–91Austria
93Australia
94New Zealand
955Malaysia
958Macau
96GS1 Global Office: GTIN-8 allocations
977Serial Publications (ISSN)
978–979Bookland (ISBN)
980Return Coupons (refund receipts)
981–983Common Currency Coupons
990–999Coupon Codes
×