France Postal Code Format Explained

A French code postal has exactly five digits, with no letters and no separator. It is written on the last line of the address, before the name of the commune, with a single space between them.

Structure

The first two digits generally correspond to the département number. For example, codes starting with 01 relate to the first département in alphabetical order, and mainland codes run roughly from 01 to 95. The last three digits identify the commune or the postal sorting and delivery area. The match with administrative areas is not perfect: postal areas are built for mail routing, not for administration.

Overseas departments use 97, and overseas collectivities and territories use 98. Corsica is a special case, because its départements carry the letters 2A and 2B in official numbering but their postal codes begin with 20.

Several communes, several codes

• A small commune typically has one code.
• A large city can have many codes. Paris uses codes beginning with 750, ending in the arrondissement number, such as 75001 for the first arrondissement.
• Several neighbouring small communes can share one code, with a delivery office serving them all.

Examples of valid format

Generic values that show shape only:

• 12345
• 01234
• 98765

Codes that begin with a zero are valid and must be kept as text, since converting to a number removes the zero.

CEDEX

Organisations that receive a lot of mail, such as companies, government offices and universities, may be given a CEDEX code. The address then ends with a five-digit CEDEX code, followed by the commune name and the word CEDEX, sometimes with a number. It is a delivery service for organisations, not a different country format, and private homes do not use it.

Common mistakes

• Treating the code as a number and losing the leading zero.
• Adding the letters F or FR in front of the code. These do not belong to the code, and a country prefix is only used on international mail in some conventions.
• Assuming the first two digits always match the département the building is in.
• Entering six digits or inserting a space within the number.
• Dropping the word CEDEX from an organisation address.

Where UPCS fits

A UPCS code such as FR-XXXX-XXXX (placeholder) is not a code postal. It points to a 3 m x 3 m cell and can be stored with the address when the exact point matters. Go back to the France overview or read how to write a French address correctly.