UPC-A vs. EAN-13 Barcodes
Selling internationally? Learn the critical differences between the North American standard and the global standard.
Geography Matters
If you are launching a retail product, choosing between UPC-A and EAN-13 is one of the most important supply chain decisions you will make. The difference largely comes down to where your primary customer base is located.
The UPC-A is a 12-digit barcode that serves as the dominant, legacy standard in the United States and Canada. Conversely, the EAN-13 is a 13-digit barcode that serves as the universal standard for the rest of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Australia.
The 13th Digit Advantage
Visually, UPC-A and EAN-13 barcodes look almost identical, sharing the exact same physical bar-and-space architecture. The only structural difference is the extra 13th digit at the beginning of an EAN-13.
This extra digit acts as a "Country Code" identifier. It allows the GS1 international registry to distribute unique company prefixes to businesses worldwide without running out of numbers. Because North America adopted barcodes first, their system (UPC) didn't initially require a country code.
Interoperability (The Sunrise 2005 Initiative)
Fortunately, you rarely need to print both on your packaging. Thanks to the "Sunrise 2005" initiative, all American and Canadian retailers were mandated to upgrade their point-of-sale systems to accept 13-digit EANs.
Likewise, international scanners can easily read a 12-digit UPC-A (they simply pad it with an invisible leading zero). As a general rule: if you are selling primarily in North America, use UPC-A. If you are selling globally, default to EAN-13.