13-Digit Barcode: What That Number Is
A 13-digit number printed under a barcode on a product is almost always anEAN-13 — the worldwide retail barcode — and the number inside it is aGTIN-13 (Global Trade Item Number). The first digits are a GS1 prefix, the middle digits identify the company and the item, and the last digit is a checksum. Paste your number below to verify it and decode what the prefix indicates.
Check a 13-digit number
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How a 13-digit barcode number is put together
A GTIN-13 has four parts, reading left to right: a GS1 prefix (the first three digits), a company prefix licensed to one business, anitem reference that business assigned to one product, and a finalcheck digit. One honest caveat the checker above repeats: the boundary between company prefix and item reference is not visible in the digits. Company prefixes vary in length — a large manufacturer holds a short prefix with room for many products, a small one a longer prefix with room for few — so from the outside only the GS1 prefix and the check digit can be decoded with certainty.
What the first digits indicate
GS1, the organization that administers retail numbering worldwide, allocates the leading digits in ranges (the full table is published ongs1.org). The notable ranges:
| Prefix range | Allocation |
|---|---|
| 000–019, 030–039, 060–139 | GS1 US |
| 020–029 | Restricted circulation in a geographic region — retailer in-store numbers (variable-weight produce, deli counters) |
| 040–049 | Restricted circulation within a company (internal use) |
| 200–299 | Restricted circulation in a geographic region |
| 300–379 | GS1 France |
| 400–440 | GS1 Germany |
| 450–459, 490–499 | GS1 Japan |
| 500–509 | GS1 UK |
| 690–699 | GS1 China |
| 754–755 | GS1 Canada |
| 890 | GS1 India |
| 930–939 | GS1 Australia |
| 977 | Serial publications (ISSN) — magazines and journals |
| 978–979 | "Bookland" — ISBNs; the number is a book (979-0 carries sheet-music ISMNs) |
| 980 | Refund receipts |
| 981–984, 990–999 | GS1 coupon identification — coupons, not products |
Two ranges deserve a closer look. Numbers starting 020–029 (and 200–299) arerestricted circulation numbers: a supermarket weighing cheese at the deli counter prints one of these with the price baked into the digits, valid only inside that chain — which is why a 13-digit number from a store label often means nothing anywhere else. And978–979 means your number is an ISBN riding inside the EAN system: see theISBN barcode page for how that works.
Does the prefix tell you the country of manufacture?
No. The GS1 prefix identifies the GS1 member organization that licensed the number — not where the product was made. A prefix in the 690–699 range means the company licensed its numbers through GS1 China; a 400–440 prefix means GS1 Germany. The company can manufacture anywhere. GS1's own guidance is blunt about this:"The GS1 Prefix does not indicate that the product was manufactured in a specific country or by a specific manufacturer; it may have been produced anywhere in the world." Apps and articles claiming you can boycott or verify origin by barcode prefix are reading a licensing record, not a customs declaration.
The check digit, worked through by hand
The 13th digit is pure arithmetic over the first twelve. Multiply the digits alternately by 1 and 3 (first digit ×1, second ×3, and so on), sum the products, and the check digit is whatever raises that sum to the next multiple of ten. For the data digits400638133393:
| Digit | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | ×1 | ×3 | ×1 | ×3 | ×1 | ×3 | ×1 | ×3 | ×1 | ×3 | ×1 | ×3 |
| Product | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 24 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Sum of products: 89. Next multiple of ten: 90.
Check digit: 90 − 89 = 1 → complete EAN-13: 4006381333931
Every figure above is computed at build time by the same tested algorithm the checker runs in your browser — the page cannot drift from the code.
This mod-10 scheme catches every single-digit error and most adjacent-digit swaps, which is why scanners reject a corrupted read instead of charging you for the wrong product. To run the arithmetic on your own numbers in both directions, use thecheck digit calculator.
Holding a 13-digit number — what next?
If the number is yours and you need the barcode image, theEAN-13 generator verifies the check digit, renders the bars, and confirms the actual SVG with an independent decoder in your browser. If you are deciding whether you need an official number at all — for Amazon, a retail shelf, or just your own stockroom — the honest walkthrough isDo I need a GS1 barcode?. And if your number starts with 978 or 979, it is an ISBN: the ISBN barcode page handles the conversion and the Bookland story.
13-digit barcode FAQ
Is a 13-digit barcode the same thing as an EAN-13 or a GTIN-13?
Yes — they are two names for the same system. GTIN-13 is the 13-digit number (Global Trade Item Number); EAN-13 is the barcode symbol that carries it. People say "EAN-13" for both, and in practice a 13-digit number found on retail packaging is a GTIN-13.
My 13-digit number starts with 0 — is it actually a UPC?
Probably. A UPC-A is a 12-digit GTIN, and adding a leading zero gives the EAN-13 form of the exact same number. Databases often store the 13-digit form while North American packaging prints the 12-digit UPC-A, so the two are one number in two costumes.
Can I find out which company owns a 13-digit barcode number?
Not from the digits alone — the prefix only tells you which GS1 member organization issued the license. To resolve the actual owner, look the number up in GS1’s public Verified by GS1 service, which returns the brand owner’s registration data for licensed GTINs.
Why does my 13-digit number fail the check digit test?
Usually a typo: one digit misread or two adjacent digits swapped, which is exactly what the check digit exists to catch. Re-read the number from the label. Never "fix" the last digit to make it pass — that converts a detectable error into a valid-looking wrong number.
Scope note: this page decodes what a 13-digit number claims to be — it cannot tell you whether the number is actually licensed and registered to a company. That lives in GS1's registry, not in the digits. Everything here runs locally in your browser; see themethodology page for how the verification layer is tested.