{"id":39459,"date":"2026-07-08T11:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.endereco.de\/?p=39459"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:29:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:29:22","slug":"addresses-in-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.endereco.de\/en\/allgemeine_news\/adressen-in-belgien\/","title":{"rendered":"Shipping to Belgium: How to Address Your Packages Correctly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Freshly baked waffles, pralines, and fries with mayonnaise (never ketchup, if the Belgians have their way). Belgium is small, cozy, and full of quirks. In an area smaller than North Rhine-Westphalia, around 11.5 million people live in three language communities that have been amiably debating for decades which language is the more beautiful.<\/p>\n

And what about french fries? The Belgians invented them. At least, that's how they see it. Since 2017, french fry culture has been an official national cultural heritage<\/a>. If you say \u201eFrench fries\u201c here, you won\u2019t make any friends.<\/p>\n

But Belgium has more to offer than just charm. The e-commerce market is projected to reach around Estimated at 22.7 billion U.S. dollars<\/a>. More than 60 percent of all online orders in Belgium are across borders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But before you send your first packages to Belgium, it\u2019s worth taking a closer look at the addresses. The three official languages alone mean that street names are spelled completely differently depending on the region. On top of that, there\u2019s a separate system for apartment numbers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here's how Belgian addresses are structured<\/h2>\n

Belgian addresses are structured from top to bottom. The person's name is at the top, the country at the bottom, with the street and ZIP code in between.<\/p>\n

Line 1: Recipient<\/h3>\n

First and last name for individuals; company name for businesses.<\/p>\n

Line 2: Street and house number<\/h3>\n

Front or rear tire types?<\/p>\n

In Flanders (the Dutch-speaking north), the road type is listed at the end of the name:<\/p>\n\n\n

Example<\/strong><\/td>Road Type<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Kerkstreet<\/strong><\/td>-straat (street)<\/td><\/tr>
Stationslaan<\/strong><\/td>-laan (avenue)<\/td><\/tr>
Brusselssteenweg<\/strong><\/td>-steenweg (highway)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


In Wallonia (the French-speaking south), it's the other way around. The road type is listed first:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example<\/strong><\/td>Road Type<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Rue<\/strong> de la Loi<\/td>Rue (Street)<\/td><\/tr>
Avenue<\/strong> Louise<\/td>Avenue (Tree-lined street)<\/td><\/tr>
Road<\/strong> de Waterloo<\/td>Chauss\u00e9e (Chaussee)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Brussels, both versions coexist because the city is officially bilingual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The house number follows immediately after the street name, without a comma. For multi-family homes or apartments in Belgium, the so-called \"bus number\" follows (more on this shortly under \"Address Specifics\").<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example: Flanders<\/strong>: Kerkstraat 42, apt. 3 (apt. = apartment number, the apartment designation)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Case of Wallonia<\/strong>: Rue de la Loi 16, bte 5 (bte = bo\u00eete, the French equivalent of a bus number)

<\/p>\n\n\n

Line 3: Postal code and city<\/h3>\n

The Belgian ZIP code has four digits and appears immediately before the city name, without a country prefix or hyphen. So it's simply: 1000 Bruxelles.<\/p>\n

But please note: bpost recommends writing the place name in the language of the respective region. In Flanders, use Dutch; in Wallonia, use French. Although automatic sorting is based on the ZIP code, using the correct language version helps avoid processing delays. Brussels accepts both versions.<\/p>\n

Example: 1000 Bruxelles or 1000 Brussel (both are correct for Brussels)<\/p>\n

Line 4: Country<\/h3>\n

For international shipping, the last line reads \u201eBELGIUM\u201c or \u201eBELGIEN\u201c in all capital letters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Address examples at a glance<\/h2>\n

Here are a few typical formats.<\/p>\n

Home address (Flanders):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Recipient<\/td>Jan Peeters<\/td><\/tr>
Street & house number<\/td>15 Stationsstraat<\/td><\/tr>
Zip code & City<\/td>3000 Leuven<\/td><\/tr>
Country<\/td>BELGIUM<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Home address (Wallonia):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recipient<\/td>Marie Dupont<\/td><\/tr>
Street & house number<\/td>6 Rue du Cornet<\/td><\/tr>
Zip code & City<\/td>4800 Verviers<\/td><\/tr>
Country<\/td>BELGIUM<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Business address:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Company name<\/td>TechSolutions SA<\/td><\/tr>
Contact Person<\/td>Attn: Marc Janssen<\/td><\/tr>
Street & house number<\/td>280 Boulevard du Souverain<\/td><\/tr>
Zip code & City<\/td>1160 Brussels<\/td><\/tr>
Country<\/td>BELGIUM<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Address with bus number:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recipient<\/td>Sophie De Smedt<\/td><\/tr>
Street & House Number & Bus Number<\/td>37 Kortrijkstraat, Box 4<\/td><\/tr>
Zip code & City<\/td>9000 Ghent<\/td><\/tr>
Country<\/td>BELGIUM<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So much for the structure. But what do the four-digit numbers in line 3 mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n


The Belgian ZIP Code System<\/h2>\n

Belgium has used four-digit postal codes since 1969. Approximately 1,200 postal codes cover the entire country. By comparison, Germany uses five digits and has over 8,000 postal codes.<\/p>\n

A glance at the first digit is enough to roughly identify the region:<\/p>\n\n\n

ZIP CODE<\/strong><\/td>Region \/ Province<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
1xxx<\/td>Brussels, Walloon Brabant, and Flemish Brabant<\/td><\/tr>
2xxx<\/td>Antwerp<\/td><\/tr>
3xxx<\/td>Flemish Brabant (East) and Limburg<\/td><\/tr>
4xxx<\/td>Li\u00e8ge<\/td><\/tr>
5xxx<\/td>Namur<\/td><\/tr>
6xxx<\/td>Hainaut and Luxembourg<\/td><\/tr>
7xxx<\/td>Hainaut<\/td><\/tr>
8xxx<\/td>West Flanders<\/td><\/tr>
9xxx<\/td>East Flanders<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Good to know: In 1995, the province of Brabant was divided into Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant, and the Brussels-Capital Region. However, the ZIP codes were not adjusted. As a result, three different regions now share the same ZIP code prefix in the 1xxx range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the ZIP code and city aren't a problem as long as the four digits are correct. It's a different story when it comes to streets and house numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Are you shipping to Belgium and having trouble with international addresses?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then test our endereco services free of charge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arrange a consultation appointment<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Address Formatting in Belgium<\/h2>\n

Belgium has a few quirks in its addressing system that you won't find in any other European country. And those are exactly what make the difference between \u201epackage delivered\u201c and \u201epackage still in transit.\u201c.<\/p>\n

How Bus Numbers Work in Belgium<\/h3>\n

In Germany, the apartment number is rarely included in the address. In Belgium, it\u2019s different: there\u2019s a specific term for this\u2014the \u201ebus number.\u201c The name is derived from the Dutch word \u201cbus\u201d (mailbox). However, it doesn\u2019t refer to the mailbox itself, but rather to the number of the specific residential unit within a building.<\/p>\n

The bus number is assigned by the respective Community<\/a>, such as in new construction or renovations. Since there is no statewide system, the formats vary from municipality to municipality.<\/p>\n

The official spelling according to bpost:<\/p>\n