Sending mail overseas is more costly and takes longer than delivering locally so it’s even more important to avoid delivery failures. To give you the best chance of delivery, make sure packages and envelopes are correctly addressed – using the appropriate format when mailing to those countries. Many countries have their own way of formatting an address to assist with deliverability. There are actually over 112 address formats around the world, here are some of the most interesting differences that you could encounter.

1. Europe
In Norway, an address has only
two lines. The top line contains the
street name and building number.
The bottom line contains the
postal code and the place name.
In Ireland, a new
postal code system
was launched in
2015, known as
Eircode to provide a
unique code for each
individual address.
Ireland
In Germany, many
businesses have
two postal codes.
One for the postbox
address, the other for
their street address.
Germany
Large organisations
in France have their own
unique postal code; you have
to use that code followed
by the word
CEDEX.
France
Norway
Over 4,000 address
changes are noted
by delivery staff
each day.
UK
Has one of the longest street
names in the world: Aleja
Alije Izetbegovića Prvig
Predsjednika Predsjedništva
Republika Bosna i
Hercegovina.
Bosnia
Postal codes in Canada do
not include the letters
D, F, I, O, Q, or U as the OCR
equipment used in automated
sorting could confuse them.
Canada
Addresses that receive
high volumes of mail
have their own unique
ZIP code, eg: Wal-Mart
HQ and the Empire
State Building.
USA
There are over 40
locations in the US
called 'Springfield'.
USA
One of the only former
British colonies to not
have postcodes.
Jamaica
Asia
Traditionally assigns addresses
chronologically instead of
geographically; buildings are
numbered according to when
they were built, not where
they’re located on a street.
South Korea
Only towns with 60,000
inhabitants and above
have postal codes
individualised for streets,
roads, avenues, etc.
Brazil
Almost 1/4 of the
mail in Costa Rica is
returned undeliverable.
Costa Rica
PIN code
(Postal Index Number) is
the standard term for a
postcode in India.
India
Japan has very few street
names – just names for
building blocks which are
numbered in the order in
which they were built.
Japan
In Bangladesh, the format
is different depending on
whether the address is
rural or urban.
Bangladesh
Africa
Postal Codes in Madagascar
consist of just 3 numbers.
Madagascar
Properties often don't have
a house number or name
and street signs are rarely
visible, so local landmarks
like bars, banks or even
trees are used instead.
Ghana
In rural areas street
delivery is not available so
PO Box addresses are
much more common.
South Africa
Around 17% of the
Australian population
change their address
each year.
Australia
Addresses may be to post
office boxes, private bags or
rural deliveries. A recipient
may have more than one
postal code according to
the address type used
(street, bag or box).
New Zealand
AUSTRALASIA
PCApredict.com@PCApredict
EXPRESS
EXPRESS
EXPRESS
It is important to put
'Colonia' to identify the
district (when known) in
Mexican addresses.
Mexico