Postal codes in France

France uses five-digit numeric postal codes, the first two digits representing the département in which the city is located.

In metropolitan France the first two digits are the number of the département where the post office in charge of delivery to a town is located.

A regular postcode always ends with a 0, with the notable exception of Paris, Lyon and Marseille – see below – and the Overseas Départements and Territories.

Here is for example the postal code of a small village, Lépaud in Creuse: Another example with Pouillé-les-Côteaux in Loire-Atlantique: And the postal code of Mortagne-au-Perche, sous-préfecture of the Département de l'Orne: It is not rare that many adjacent villages share the same postal code, which is primarily associated with a bigger post office, e.g.: 64150 can correspond to Abidos, Bésingrand, Lagor, Lahourcade, Mourenx, Noguère, Os Marsillon, Pardies, Sauvelade and Vielleségure.

For example, Le Fresne-sur-Loire, in Loire-Atlantique, uses 49123, while its postcode should normally start with 44, because it is associated with the post office of Ingrandes, a neighbouring commune in Maine-et-Loire.

A postal code is allocated to each large organisation or to post office box holders, ending in three unique digits, for example: CEDEX should always be written in capitals.