Reading UPC Bar codes
- 1. Note that bar codes are made up of both white and black lines.The white spaces in between the black lines are part of the code.2. Understand that there are four different thicknesses to the lines. Henceforth, the skinniest line will be referred to as "1," the medium-sized line as "2," the next largest line as "3." and the thickest is "4."
- 3. Recognize that each UPC bar code begins and ends with 101 (thin black, thin white, thin black). In the very middle of the bar code, you will notice two thin black lines sticking down between the numbers. The thin white between them, as well as the thin whites to either side, make up a 01010. Each UPC bar code has 01010 in the middle.
- 4. Recognize that each digit, including the small numbers that begin and end the bar code, has its own unique four-line set. 0 = 3211, 1 = 2221, 2 = 2122, 3 = 1411, 4 = 1132, 5 = 1231, 6 = 1114, 7 = 1312, 8 = 1213, 9 = 3112. (Note that the sum of bar widths numbers is 7 for all codes because each code is 7 units wide.) Notice that the line colors are reversed after the center-line: The lines of the digits to the left are white/black/white/black whilst to the right they are black/white/black/white. This provides some error checking and allows the reader to know the direction in which it is scanning a code. It is also crucial so that the bar code ends with a bar rather than a space. So, actually, each digit has two codes.
- 5. So, the bar code above whose first two digits are 03 would start out "10132111411". Broken down this is "101-3211-1411" where 101 marks the beginning of the bar code and 3211 marks the digit 0 .
#* UPC Bar codes are typically registered and used in the United States and Canada and, therefore, do not indicate a country identifier.
A similar bar code system is EAN (European Article Number). It contains 13 digits and also indicates the country in which the bar code was registered. Read the first "3" digits of the code to determine this.- Example: If the first 3 digits of the bar code are 690, 691, or 692, the country in which the code was registered was China.
It is important to note that the country code in EAN bar codes does not indicate where the product was manufactured . For example, if the bar code begins with 64, then it was registered in Finland (probably to a company that was headquartered in Finland). Look more closely at the packaging, however, and you may find that the product was "Made in China".
Outside the US & Canada, the similar 13-digit EAN bar code system is more prevalent. The EAN contains an additional digit used as part of a country code.
You will not do well if you have poor eyesight.
| 000 - 019 | GS1 US |
| 020 - 029 | Restricted distribution (MO defined) |
| 030 - 039 | GS1 US |
| 040 - 049 | Restricted distribution (MO defined) |
| 050 - 059 | Coupons |
| 060 - 139 | GS1 US |
| 200 - 299 | Restricted distribution (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 & 490 - 499 | GS1 Japan |
| 460 - 469 | GS1 Russia |
| 470 | GS1 Kyrgyzstan |
| 471 | GS1 Taiwan |
| 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 |
| 484 | GS1 Moldova |
| 485 | GS1 Armenia |
| 486 | GS1 Georgia |
| 487 | GS1 Kazakstan |
| 488 | GS1 Tajikistan |
| 489 | GS1 Hong Kong |
| 500 - 509 | GS1 UK |
| 520 - 521 | GS1 Association Greece |
| 528 | GS1 Lebanon |
| 529 | GS1 Cyprus |
| 530 | GS1 Albania |
| 531 | GS1 MAC (FYR 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 |
| 608 | GS1 Bahrain |
| 609 | GS1 Mauritius |
| 611 | GS1 Morocco |
| 613 | GS1 Algeria |
| 615 | GS1 Nigeria |
| 616 | GS1 Kenya |
| 618 | GS1 Ivory Coast |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 884 | GS1 Cambodia |
| 885 | GS1 Thailand |
| 888 | GS1 Singapore |
| 890 | GS1 India |
| 893 | GS1 Vietnam |
| 896 | GS1 Pakistan |
| 899 | GS1 Indonesia |
| 900 - 919 | GS1 Austria |
| 930 - 939 | GS1 Australia |
| 940 - 949 | GS1 New Zealand |
| 950 | GS1 Global Office |
| 951 | GS1 Global Office (EPCglobal) |
| 955 | GS1 Malaysia |
| 958 | GS1 Macau |
| 960-969 | Global Office (GTIN-8s) |
| 977 | Serial publications (ISSN) |
| 978 - 979 | Bookland (ISBN) |
| 980 | Refund receipts |
| 981 - 983 | Common Currency Coupons |
| 990 - 999 | Coupons |
| Notes:
960 has been assigned to GS1 UK for GTIN-8 allocations.
Prefixes not listed above are reserved by GS1 Global Office for allocations in non-member countries and for future use.
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