Postal codes in Belgium are numeric and consist of 4 numbers. The first digit indicates the province (except for the 3xxx numbers that are shared by the eastern part ofFlemish Brabant andLimburg, the 6xxx that are shared between the Hainaut and Luxembourg province, and the 1xxx that are shared by theBrussels Capital Region, the western part ofFlemish Brabant andWalloon Brabant). The more zeros there are, the higher the number of inhabitants of that city in the province. For example:Bruges (Brugge) is the capital and largest urban centre of the coastal province ofWest Flanders so it gets the 8000 code, the second city isKortrijk and gets 8500. When writing the address, the postal code is put in front of the town name.
Special numbers are reserved for theEU institutions,NATO headquarters, public and commercialbroadcasters (RTBF,RTLTVI,VRT andVTM), the different parliaments and other public institutions.
A correct Belgianpostal code is mentioned before the address' municipality orsection (e.g.: "8500 Kortrijk"). While often used erroneously,Bpost's guidelines specifically implore not to mention anycountry code in front of the postal code (e.g.: "B-8500" instead of "8500"),[1] similarly to theUniversal Postal Union's S42 definition of an address.[2]
The current 4 digit numeric postal code system has been in place since 1969.[3]
Ne pas mentionner le code ISO (Belgique) (...) [correct] 6099 Fleurus; [incorrect] B- 6099 Fleurus