The list of postcode areas in the United Kingdom is a tabulation of the postcode areas used by Royal Mail for the purposes of directing mail within the United Kingdom. The postcode area is the largest geographical unit used and forms the initial characters of the alphanumeric UK postcode.[1] There are currently 121 geographic postcode areas in use in the UK and a further three often combined with these covering the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man.

Subdivision

Each postcode area is further divided into post towns and postcode districts.[1] There are on average 20 postcode districts to a postcode area.[1] The London post town is instead divided into several postcode areas.[2]

Scope

The single or pair of letters chosen for postcode areas are generally intended as a mnemonic for the places served.[1] Postcode areas, post towns and postcode districts do not follow political boundaries and usually serve much larger areas than the place names with which they are associated. For example, within the PA postcode area the PA1 and PA78 postcode districts are 140 miles (225 km) apart; and the eight postcode areas of the London post town cover only 40% of Greater London.[2] The remainder of its area is covered by sections of twelve adjoining postcode areas: EN, IG, RM, DA, BR, TN, CR, SM, KT, TW, HA and UB.[2]

United Kingdom postcode areas

Map of the United Kingdom and Crown dependencies showing postcode area boundaries
Map of postcode areas in the United Kingdom and Crown dependencies, with links to each postcode area
Postcode areaPostcode area name[1][3]Code formationNumber of postcode districts within area
ABAberdeen33 (Highest number 56)
ALSt Albans10
BBirmingham79 (Highest number 98)
BABath19 (Highest number 22)
BBBlackburn13 (Highest number 18)
BDBradford27 (Highest number 99)
BHBournemouth26 (Highest number 31)
BLBolton10 (Highest number 9)
BNBrighton30 (Highest number 45)
BRBromley8
BSBristol37 (Highest number 49)
BTBelfast81 (Highest number 94)
CACarlisle28
CBCambridge16 (Highest number 25)
CFCardiff35 (Highest number 83)
CHChester37 (Highest number 66)
CMChelmsford25 (Highest number 77)
COColchester16
CRCroydon8
CTCanterbury21
CVCoventry24 (Highest number 47)
CWCrewe12
DADartford18
DDDundee11
DEDerby23 (Highest number 75)
DGDumfries[1]Dumfries and Galloway15 (Highest number 16)
DHDurham9
DLDarlington17
DNDoncaster32 (Highest number 41)
DTDorchester11
DYDudley14
EEast London20 (Includes E1W)
ECEast Central London23 (Layout for EC is different, e.g.: EC2R 8AH, highest number 4/4Y)
EHEdinburgh54 (Highest number 55)
ENEnfield11
EXExeter33 (Highest number 39)
FKFalkirk21
FYBlackpool[1]The Fylde8
GGlasgow52 (Highest number 84)
GLGloucester27 (Highest number 56)
GUGuildford38 (Highest number 52)
HAHarrow10 (Highest number 9)
HDHuddersfield9
HGHarrogate5
HPHemel Hempstead24 (Highest number 27)
HRHereford9
HSHebrides9
HUHull20
HXHalifax7
IGIlfordPossibly Ilford and Gants Hill (or Barking)11
IPIpswich33
IVInverness52 (Highest number 63)
KAKilmarnockPossibly Kilmarnock and Ayr or Kilmarnock30
KTKingston upon Thames24
KWKirkwall16 (Highest number 17)
KYKirkcaldy16
LLiverpool40
LALancaster23
LDLlandrindod Wells[1]8
LELeicester21 (Highest number 67)
LLLlandudno67 (Highest number 78)
LNLincoln13
LSLeeds29
LULuton7
MManchester43 (Highest number 90)
MEMedway20
MKMilton Keynes26 (Highest number 46)
MLMotherwell12
NNorth London23 (Includes N1C, Highest number 22)
NENewcastle upon Tyne[4][5]61 (Highest number 71)
NGNottingham29 (Highest number 34)
NNNorthampton19 (Highest number 29)
NPNewport18 (Highest number 44)
NRNorwich35
NWNorth West London11
OLOldham16
OXOxford27 (Highest number 49)
PAPaisley67 (Highest number 80)
PEPeterborough38
PHPerth43 (Highest number 50)
PLPlymouth35
POPortsmouth34 (Highest number 41)
PRPreston11 (Highest number 26)
RGReading30 (Highest number 45)
RHRedhill20
RMRomford20
SSheffield45 (Highest number 81)
SASwansea51 (Highest number 73)
SESouth East London28
SGStevenage19
SKStockport19
SLSlough10 (Highest number 9)
SMSutton[1]Possibly Sutton and Morden, the two post towns that are within the SM area [6]7
SNSwindon18 (Highest number 26)
SOSouthampton23 (Highest number 53)
SPSalisburySalisbury Plain11
SRSunderland8
SSSouthend-on-Sea17
STStoke-on-Trent21
SWSouth West London27 (SW1 is represented by SW1A, -E, -H, -P, -V, -W, -X & -Y, Highest number 20)
SYShrewsbury25
TATaunton24
TDGalashielsTweeddale15
TFTelford13
TNTunbridge Wells[1]40
TQTorquay14
TRTruro27
TSTeesside29
TWTwickenham20
UBSouthall[1]Uxbridge11
WWest London26 (W1 is split into W1A through W1D, -F to -H, -J, -K, -S through -U and -W, highest number 14)
WAWarrington16
WCWest Central London14 (WC1 is split into eight, WC2 is split into six, highest number 2/2R)
WDWatford11 (Highest number 25)
WFWakefield17
WNWigan8
WRWorcester15
WSWalsall15
WVWolverhampton16
YOYork29 (Highest number 47)
ZELerwick[1]Zetland3

Crown dependencies

The Crown dependencies (which are not part of the United Kingdom) did not introduce postcodes until later, but use a similar coding scheme. They are separate postal authorities.[1]

Postcode areaPostcode area name
GYGuernsey
JEJersey
IMIsle of Man

Defunct postcode areas

London NE and S

Glasgow

Glasgow, like London, was divided into compass districts: C, W, NW, N, E, SE, S, SW. When postcodes were introduced, these were mapped into the new G postcode: C1 became G1, W1 became G11, N1 became G21, E1 became G31, S1 became G41, SW1 became G51, and so on. As NW and SE had never been subdivided they became G20 and G40 respectively.

Norwich and Croydon

Norwich and Croydon were used for a postcode experiment in the late 1960s, which was replaced by the current system. The format was of the form NOR or CRO followed by two numbers and a letter, e.g. NOR 07A. They were later changed to CR0 (digit '0') and NR1.

Dublin, Ireland

When Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland a postal district system was introduced in 1917 by the UK government. The letter D was assigned to Dublin. Upon the establishment of the Irish Free State and later, the Republic of Ireland, the Irish government retained the designation and today it forms part of the Eircode system, a postcode format slightly different from the UK format and identifying individual addresses. Since Irish independence, D has never been reassigned as a postcode area in the UK.

Non-geographic postcodes

Some postcode areas do not correspond to geographical areas. A number of non-geographic postcode sectors are also contained within geographic postcode areas.

BF

The BF postcode area was introduced in 2012 to provide optional postcodes for British Forces Post Office addresses, for consistency with the layout of other UK addresses. It uses the national non-geographic post town "BFPO" and, as of 2012, the postcode district "BF1".

BX

The non-geographic postcode area BX has been introduced for addresses which do not include a locality: this allows large organisations long-term flexibility as to where they receive their mail. This postcode area is used by Lloyds Banking Group (BX1 1LT), HSBC (BX8 0HB) and parts of the HM Revenue and Customs like VAT Central Unit (BX5 5AT) and Pay as You Earn (BX9 1AS). Lloyds Bank also use BX4. After splitting from Lloyds, TSB Bank uses BX4 7SB, the latter part of which, when written, looks similar to "TSB".

GIR

GIR 0AA is a postcode created for Girobank in Bootle. It remained in use by its successors when Girobank was taken over by Alliance & Leicester and subsequently by Santander UK.

XM

XM4 5HQ is a postcode created for Father Christmas.

XX

The non-geographic postcode area XX is used by online retailers for returns by Royal Mail, and for COVID-19 test samples.

Retailer
(or other user)		XX Postcodes
Adidas XX40 4AA
AmazonXX10 1DD (Scottish Distribution Centre)[7]
XX10 1ZZ (Yorkshire Distribution Centre)
XX30 1FF (South West Distribution Centre)
XX40 2PP (National Distribution Centre)
XX50 1DD (Scottish Distribution Centre)
XX50 9SS (Scottish Distribution Centre)
XX60 1XX (Princess Royal Distribution Centre)
ASOSXX10 1AA
Boohoo.comXX10 1BB
BT GroupXX10 1BT
John LewisXX10 1EE
XX40 1EE
Marks & SpencerXX10 1SS
VeryXX20 1BD
musicMagpieXX10 1FF
XX20 1BF
XX20 1FF
HP / Cycleon Retail ReturnsXX40 1EH
XX40 2HH (toner cartridge recycling)
Nike XX40 2HH
ZaraXX40 1EJ
MangoXX40 1EN
Monsoon AccessorizeXX40 1EP
BodenXX40 1EG
H&MXX40 1HN
OasisXX40 1YY
Shein XX40 3SS
Temu XX40 1ZZ
Sky XX40 4UU
Biocentre (COVID-19 testing)XX40 4FL
AstraZeneca (COVID-19 testing)XX40 8AZ
Biocentre (COVID-19 testing) ScotlandXX50 5FL

Overseas territories

Certain British Overseas Territories introduced single postal codes for their territory or major sub-sections of it. These are not UK postcodes, even though many are formatted in a similar fashion:

TerritoryPostcode
 AnguillaAI-2640[8]
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha:
 Ascension Island
 Saint Helena
 Tristan da Cunha[9]
ASCN 1ZZ
STHL 1ZZ
TDCU 1ZZ
 British Indian Ocean TerritoryBBND 1ZZ
 British Antarctic TerritoryBIQQ 1ZZ
 Falkland IslandsFIQQ 1ZZ[10]
 GibraltarGX11 1AA
 Pitcairn IslandsPCRN 1ZZ
 South Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSIQQ 1ZZ
 Turks and Caicos IslandsTKCA 1ZZ[11]

Other overseas territories have introduced their own more extensive postcode systems:

Overseas TerritoryFurther information
 BermudaPostal codes in Bermuda
 Cayman IslandsPostal codes in the Cayman Islands
 British Virgin IslandsPostal codes in the British Virgin Islands
 MontserratPostal codes in Montserrat

Civilian residential and business addresses in Akrotiri and Dhekelia are served by Cyprus Postal Services and use Cypriot postal codes.

Mail to Overseas Territories is treated as international if posted in the UK.

See also

Notes

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Address Management Guide (5th ed.). Royal Mail Group plc. March 2007. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
    2. 1 2 3 HMSO, The Inner London Letter Post, (1980)
    3. ↑ Office for National Statistics (1999). The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom (PDF) (2000 ed.). London: The Stationery Office. "UK Postal Areas", map opposite p. 5. ISBN 0-11-621098-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
    4. ↑ Manger, Warren (26 August 2014). "40 facts about the postcode to mark 40th anniversary as vital part of daily life". mirror.co.uk. mirror.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
    5. ↑ "History of the UK Postcode - Modern Origin". postcodearea.co.uk. postcodearea.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
    6. ↑ "Postcodes in the UK - Jonathan Rawle's Website". jonathan.rawle.org. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
    7. ↑ Amazon Help [@AmazonHelp] (24 October 2016). "@MarkWickson This postcode is a non-geographic code used by us for returns carried by Royal Mail to our returns center Dunfermline, SCT. ^SW" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
    8. ↑ "Anguilla Has a Postal Code, AI-2640". The Anguillian. 12 October 2007. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010.
    9. ↑ "First postcode for remote UK isle". BBC News. 7 August 2005. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.
    10. ↑ "Rammell welcomes new Postcode for the Falkland Islands". Merco Press. 19 May 2003.
    11. ↑ Turks and Caicos Islands Archived 10 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Bureau International UPU.
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