Address Formats Around the World: A Developer Guide
A comprehensive guide to address formats in different countries. Essential reference for developers building international address forms.
Why Address Formats Matter
If you're building software that handles addresses from multiple countries, understanding how address formats vary is critical. A form that works perfectly for US addresses may completely break for Japanese, German, or Brazilian addresses.
United States
1234 Oak Avenue
New York, NY 10001
**Key features:** Street number before name, 2-letter state code, 5-digit ZIP code.
United Kingdom
42 High Street
London
SW1A 1AA
**Key features:** House number before street name, city on its own line, alphanumeric postcode (outward + inward code).
Germany
Hauptstraße 42
10115 Berlin
**Key features:** Street name before house number, postal code before city, 5-digit PLZ.
France
42 Rue de la Paix
75002 Paris
**Key features:** Number before street name, postal code before city, 5-digit code postal.
Japan
〒100-0001
東京都千代田区千代田1-1
**Key features:** Written from largest to smallest unit (prefecture → city → district → block → building), postal code with 〒 symbol, 7-digit code with hyphen.
Brazil
Rua Example 123
São Paulo - SP
01001-000
**Key features:** Street name before number, city followed by state abbreviation, 8-digit CEP with hyphen.
Canada
123 Main Street
Toronto, ON M5V 3L9
**Key features:** Similar to US but with alphanumeric postal codes (letter-digit-letter digit-letter-digit format).
Australia
42 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
**Key features:** Similar to US/UK, state abbreviation after city, 4-digit postcode.
Tips for International Address Forms
**Don't assume a fixed format** — Make address fields flexible
**Don't require all fields** — Some countries don't use states or provinces
**Label fields appropriately** — Use "State/Province/Region" instead of just "State"
**Support long postal codes** — Some countries have 7+ character codes
**Handle special characters** — Many addresses include accented characters, kanji, etc.
**Allow flexible postal code placement** — Some countries put it before the city, others after
**Test with real formats** — Use address generators to test with realistic data from each target country