Several times in years past, this question was the subject of memes that made the social media rounds instructing consumers to read barcode numbers to identify the country of origin of products they wanted to buy.
As with a lot of unvetted information circulating online, the meme in question may have begun with a kernel truth. But it’s a misrepresentation of the information associated with a product’s barcode.
Let’s set the record straight about the numbers assigned to companies by GS1, the nonprofit member organization that develops, establishes, and communicates barcoding standards in use around the world.
What Types of Information Can You Find in a Barcode?
Various types of barcodes were developed for use in many different industries and applications, and barcodes can contain widely varying types and amounts of information. Some basic information associated with a barcode can include the product identity, size, weight, manufacturer identity, and yes—information about the facility where the product was manufactured, among other data.
But, as the memes suggest, do the first three digits show the country of origin? The short answer is no.
Barcode Prefixes & Country of Origin
As you can see in the list below, the first three digits of a GS1 company prefix are, in fact, associated with the country where the manufacturer’s business is based. When a company registers with the GS1 member organization, it is assigned a unique identifier that starts with the GS1 prefix of the GS1 member country.
So—is it a country code? Yes, it is. But it’s easy to understand that a company’s headquarters or office location and production facilities are often in different countries (sometimes several countries). So while there isn’t a barcode country of origin list, there is a list of countries in which manufacturers’ businesses are based.
When a company applies for a GS1 prefix, they provide their location to the organization, and that determines their country prefix—and the items they manufacture can be produced anywhere in the world.
That said, following is the list of GS1 prefixes and their corresponding countries:
|
Barcode Prefix
|
Description
|
|
0000000
|
Used to issue Restricted Circulation Numbers within a company
|
|
0000001 – 0000099
|
Unused to avoid collision with GTIN-8
|
|
001 – 019
|
GS1 US
|
|
020 – 029
|
Used to issue Restricted Circulation Numbers within a geographic region (MO defined)
|
|
030 – 039
|
GS1 US
|
|
040 – 049
|
Used to issue GS1 Restricted Circulation Numbers within a company
|
|
050 –059
|
GS1 US reserved for future use
|
|
060 – 139
|
GS1 US
|
|
200 – 299
|
Used to issue GS1 Restricted Circulation Numbers within a geographic region (MO defined)
|
|
300 – 379
|
GS1 France
|
|
380
|
GS1 Bulgaria
|
|
383
|
GS1 Slovenija
|
|
385
|
GS1 Croatia
|
|
387
|
GS1 BIH (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
|
|
389
|
GS1 Montenegro
|
|
400 – 440
|
GS1 Germany
|
|
450 – 459 and
490 – 499
|
GS1 Japan
|
|
460 – 469
|
GS1 Russia
|
|
470
|
GS1 Kyrgyzstan
|
|
471
|
GS1 Chinese Taipei
|
|
474
|
GS1 Estonia
|
|
475
|
GS1 Latvia
|
|
476
|
GS1 Azerbaijan
|
|
477
|
GS1 Lithuania
|
|
478
|
GS1 Uzbekistan
|
|
479
|
GS1 Sri Lanka
|
|
480
|
GS1 Philippines
|
|
481
|
GS1 Belarus
|
|
482
|
GS1 Ukraine
|
|
483
|
GS1 Turkmenistan
|
|
484
|
GS1 Moldova
|
|
485
|
GS1 Armenia
|
|
486
|
GS1 Georgia
|
|
487
|
GS1 Kazakhstan
|
|
488
|
GS1 Tajikistan
|
|
489
|
GS1 Hong Kong, China
|
|
500 – 509
|
GS1 UK
|
|
520 – 521
|
Association Greece
|
|
528
|
GS1 Lebanon
|
|
529
|
GS1 Cyprus
|
|
530
|
GS1 Albania
|
|
531
|
GS1 Macedonia
|
|
535
|
GS1 Malta
|
|
539
|
GS1 Ireland
|
|
540 – 549
|
GS1 Belgium & Luxembourg
|
|
560
|
GS1 Portugal
|
|
569
|
GS1 Iceland
|
|
570 – 579
|
GS1 Denmark
|
|
590
|
GS1 Poland
|
|
594
|
GS1 Romania
|
|
599
|
GS1 Hungary
|
|
600 – 601
|
GS1 South Africa
|
|
603
|
GS1 Ghana
|
|
604
|
GS1 Senegal
|
|
605
|
Managed by GS1 Global Office for future MO
|
|
606
|
Managed by GS1 Global Office for future MO
|
|
607
|
Managed by GS1 Global Office for future MO
|
|
608
|
GS1 Bahrain
|
|
609
|
GS1 Mauritius
|
|
610
|
Managed by GS1 Global Office for future MO
|
|
611
|
GS1 Morocco
|
|
613
|
GS1 Algeria
|
|
614
|
Managed by GS1 Global Office for future MO
|
|
615
|
GS1 Nigeria
|
|
616
|
GS1 Kenya
|
|
617
|
GS1 Cameroon
|
|
618
|
GS1 Côte d’Ivoire
|
|
619
|
GS1 Tunisia
|
|
620
|
GS1 Tanzania
|
|
621
|
GS1 Syria
|
|
622
|
GS1 Egypt
|
|
623
|
GS1 Brunei
|
|
624
|
GS1 Libya
|
|
625
|
GS1 Jordan
|
|
626
|
GS1 Iran
|
|
627
|
GS1 Kuwait
|
|
628
|
GS1 Saudi Arabia
|
|
629
|
GS1 Emirates
|
|
630
|
GS1 Qatar
|
|
631
|
GS1 Namibia
|
|
640 – 649
|
GS1 Finland
|
|
690 – 699
|
GS1 China
|
|
700 – 709
|
GS1 Norway
|
|
729
|
GS1 Israel
|
|
730 – 739
|
GS1 Sweden
|
|
740
|
GS1 Guatemala
|
|
741
|
GS1 El Salvador
|
|
742
|
GS1 Honduras
|
|
743
|
GS1 Nicaragua
|
|
744
|
GS1 Costa Rica
|
|
745
|
GS1 Panama
|
|
746
|
GS1 Republica Dominicana
|
|
750
|
GS1 Mexico
|
|
754 – 755
|
GS1 Canada
|
|
758
|
Managed by GS1 Global Office for future MO
|
|
759
|
GS1 Venezuela
|
|
760 – 769
|
GS1 Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera
|
|
770 – 771
|
GS1 Colombia
|
|
773
|
GS1 Uruguay
|
|
775
|
GS1 Peru
|
|
777
|
GS1 Bolivia
|
|
778 – 779
|
GS1 Argentina
|
|
780
|
GS1 Chile
|
|
784
|
GS1 Paraguay
|
|
786
|
GS1 Ecuador
|
|
789 – 790
|
GS1 Brasil
|
|
800 – 839
|
GS1 Italy
|
|
840 – 849
|
GS1 Spain
|
|
850
|
GS1 Cuba
|
|
858
|
GS1 Slovakia
|
|
859
|
GS1 Czech
|
|
860
|
GS1 Serbia
|
|
865
|
GS1 Mongolia
|
|
867
|
GS1 North Korea
|
|
868 – 869
|
GS1 Turkey
|
|
870 – 879
|
GS1 Netherlands
|
|
880
|
GS1 South Korea
|
|
883
|
GS1 Myanmar
|
|
884
|
GS1 Cambodia
|
|
885
|
GS1 Thailand
|
|
888
|
GS1 Singapore
|
|
890
|
GS1 India
|
|
893
|
GS1 Vietnam
|
|
894
|
Managed by GS1 Global Office for future MO
|
|
896
|
GS1 Pakistan
|
|
899
|
GS1 Indonesia
|
|
900 – 919
|
GS1 Austria
|
|
930 – 939
|
GS1 Australia
|
|
940 – 949
|
GS1 New Zealand
|
|
950
|
GS1 Global Office
|
|
951
|
Global Office – General Manager Number: used to issue General Manager Numbers for the EPC General Identifier (GID) scheme as defined by the EPC Tag Data Standard
|
|
952
|
Used for demonstrations and examples of the GS1 system
|
|
955
|
GS1
|
|
958
|
GS1 Macao, China
|
|
960 – 969
|
Global Office – GTIN-8: 960, 961 & 9620 – 9624 have been assigned to GS1 UK for GTIN-8 allocations
|
|
977
|
Serial publications (ISSN)
|
|
978 – 979
|
Bookland (ISBN)
|
|
980
|
Refund receipts
|
|
981 – 984
|
GS1 coupon identification for common currency areas
|
|
99
|
GS1 coupon identification
|
Need a Barcode for Your Product?
Get started by getting your GS1 Company Prefix to identify your company as the owner of the products and their associated barcodes. Different tiers are available depending on how many products you need to produce barcodes for. If you only need to identify a single product you can license a single GS1 US GTIN for a one-time charge with no recurring/annual fees.
You can quickly and easily create a barcode graphic by providing your barcode symbology and data to our free online Barcode Generator tool.
Putting barcodes to work enhances product tracking, traceability, and operational efficiency. But to maximize the benefits of implementing a barcoding and warehouse management system, it’s vitally important to start right. Download our guide, Warehouse Barcode Systems: How to Label New Facility, to get a clear understanding of the critical factors to consider in a new facility. Just click below and in moments, you can have a copy in your own hands.
