List of International Call Prefixes

List Of International Call Prefixes

An international call prefix is the part of a telephone number used to dial out of a country when making an international call. It is synonymous with international access code or exit code.

These codes are different from the unique country calling code which every country has, used to dial in to that country.

When making a call between countries, the caller must first dial the international call prefix, then the destination country calling code, then (usually) an area code, omitting or suppressing leading zero, then the local telephone number.

The area code without the leading zero followed by the local number is also known as the National Significant Number. In this context a call can be made by keying the International Access Code, the required Country Code followed by the National Significant Number.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) recommends 00 as the general standard for an international call prefix, and this has been implemented by a large number of countries, but not all of them. This page only lists the exceptions, but rapid developments may make this list out of date. See External links for externally maintained lists which may be more up-to-date.

When phone numbers are published for use abroad they typically include the country calling code, but show a plus sign (+) prefix in place of any international call prefix, to signify that the caller should use the prefix code appropriate for their country.

Many phones allow this "+" to be entered in their saved number lists, often by holding down the '0' key (most GSM mobile phones) or with two consecutive presses of the * key. When making a call the system then automatically converts the "+" to the correct international prefix, depending on where the phone is being used, which enables callers to use the same stored number from any country.