International dialing codes

What it's for

To call or save a foreign number you must prefix the country's international code (e.g. +39 for Italy, +44 for the UK). Here you'll find them all.

How to use it

Dial the code (e.g. +33), then the local number without the leading zero. The «+» can be typed by holding 0 on your phone.

The zero you drop and the one you keep

The rule that trips everyone up is the leading zero: across most of Europe the local number starts with a zero that must be dropped when calling from abroad. The French number 06 12 34 56 78 becomes +33 6 12 34 56 78, not +33 06.

Italy is the exception: the zero in its area codes is part of the number and is never dropped. A Rome landline stays +39 06…, and Italian mobiles are written out in full after +39 too. It is why foreigners get Italian numbers wrong and Italians get everyone else's wrong.

The «+» and the double zeros

The «+» is the universal international prefix: the phone translates it by itself into the right sequence for the country you are calling from (00 in Europe, 011 in the United States, 010 in Japan). Saving numbers with a + is the only way to make them work everywhere, roaming included.

If a number is saved with 00 instead of + it works most of the time, but not from every country, and not at all for the verification texts some services send. On a phone keypad the + is typed by holding down the zero.

Codes that look alike

Some codes are close together and lead very far apart: +1 is the United States and Canada together, but also many Caribbean islands with codes like +1 809 or +1 876, billed as full international calls. +7 covers both Russia and Kazakhstan.

Watch out too for missed calls from unknown numbers with exotic codes (+225, +371, +881): they are scams that count on you calling back, and the per-minute cost is yours. A number you do not recognise is checked before calling back, never the other way round.

Nearby tools

To message a foreign number on WhatsApp without saving it in your contacts there is WhatsApp link. If you also need to know what time it is there before you dial, World clock answers in one go.