What is CEP in Brazil? All about Brazilian ZIP codes

There is a special postal code system in Brazil which is named CEP. It can be helpful if you want to send a mail or package to or within this country. What specific features do this CEP codes have, you can read in this article.

What does Brazilian CEP mean?

Código de Endereçamento Postal or CEP is the system which unites all Brazilian ZIP codes. Most cities with population around 100,000 and above have such codes. It helps to identify every public place and some high-occupancy private spaces.

Complete postal code database in Brazil is called DNE. It contains extended information about all Brazilian ZIP codes.

How many digits are in CEP?

Brazilian postal codes can be represented in two valid formats:

• 5-digit postcodes;
• 5-digit postcodes + 3 additional digits.

8-digit format appeared in 1992. Since that moment CEP has allowed more precise localization. 5-digit code followed by the suffix -000 usually belong to small towns are assigned a general while for large cities is enough to write only 5 general numbers.

For correct spelling it is necessary to write a hyphen between digital combinations of ZIP code in this order: five digits, a hyphen, and the new three digits at the end. For example: 53244-505.

CEP structure

Each code of CEP system consists of such parts:

• The first digit represents code belonging to one of ten postal areas, which divide Brazil (counting counter-clockwise from the state of São Paulo).
• The second digit means the sub-region.
• The following three numbers represent the sector, sub-sector and sub-sector division.

The last three numbers after the hyphen are known as suffixes. They can show exact avenues, roads, parks and squares within a municipality. The range of these three digits is from 000 to 999.

Brazilian ZIP codes by postal areas