GS1 all-numeric geocodes

(to be used with new GS1 Application Identifier (4309) - ship-to / deliver-to geocode)

GSCN 21-318 will introduce into the next edition of GS1 General Specifications a new GS1 Application Identifier (4309) for Ship-to / Deliver-to Geocode. The expected value is a 20-digit numeric string that encodes WGS84 latitude/longitude coordinates with a precision of around 1.1 centimetres. This is expected to be useful to support the delivery of parcels and logistic units that do not have a conventional postal address.

Open Location Code uses 11 alphanumeric characters to identify a rectangle on the surface of the Earth, with a spatial precision around 3.5 metres

By instead using 20 numeric digits it is possible to encode WGS84 latitude/longitude coordinates with a precision of around 1.1 centimetres
That's because 0.0000001 degrees corresponds to approximately 1.1cm on the surface of the Earth (2π * 6371,000m / 1E7 / 360)
20 digits require approximately the same number of bits to encode in a 2D barcode as 11 alphanumeric characters - but the spatial precision can be much higher than 3.5 metres afforded by Open Location Code.

Further technical details about this idea are provided in the README page

Latitude, longitude to geocode

Demo locations





all-numeric geocode to latitude, longitude

View on OpenStreetMap