Postcodes in New Zealand consist of four digits, the first two of which specify the area, the third the type of delivery (street, PO Box, Private Bag, or Rural delivery), and the last the specific lobby, RD (rural delivery) number, or suburb. The present postcode system was introduced in New Zealand in June 2006, which, unlike the previous system, applies to all items of mail with effect from June 2008.

This replaced a previous system, introduced in 1977, in which New Zealand Post did not require individual items of mail to include the postcode in the address. Optical character recognition (OCR) enabled automated sorting machines to scan entire addresses, rather than just postcodes, as was the case with older machines. This was very similar to the case in Ireland. OCR technology was introduced in 1992; when the first of seven OCR machines were installed in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch Mail Centres, most mail was sorted manually.History of New Zealand Post, New Zealand Post

Allocation

There are 1,856 postcodes, each of which may serve up to 10,000 individual locations. Postcodes are generally allocated north to south.

00 – unused 01 – Whangarei, Marsden Point, Ngunguru 02 – Kawakawa, Kerikeri, Moerewa, Paihia, Russell 03 – Dargaville 04 – Kaikohe, Kaitaia 05 – Mangawhai, Waipu 06 – North Shore, West Auckland (urban); West Auckland (PO box); south-western Central Auckland 07 – North Shore, West Auckland (rural); North Shore (PO Box) 08 – Helensville, Kumeu 09 – Hibiscus Coast, Warkworth, Wellsford, Snells Beach; Great Barrier Island 10 – Central Auckland, Waiheke Island (urban), Rakino Island 11 – Central Auckland (PO box, central) 12 – Central Auckland (PO box, western bays) 13 – Central Auckland (PO box, inner south-west) 14 – Central Auckland (PO box, outer south-west) 15 – Central Auckland (PO box, inner south-east) 16 – Central Auckland (PO box, outer-south-east) 17 – Central Auckland (PO box, eastern bays) 18 – Waiheke Island (PO box) 19 – Waiheke Island (rural) 20 – South Auckland (urban, north and east) 21 – South Auckland, Pukekohe, Tuakau, Waiuku (urban, south); South Auckland (PO box, north and east) 22 – South Auckland (PO box, south) 23 – Pukekohe, Tuakau, Waiuku (PO box) 24 – Pokeno, Mercer, Mangatawhiri 25 – South Auckland (rural) 26 – Pukekohe, Tuakau, Waiuku (rural) 27 – unused 28 – unused 29 – unused 30 – Rotorua, Murupara 31 – Tauranga, Whakatane, Edgecumbe, Katikati, Kawerau, Opotiki, Te Puke, Matakana Island 32 – Hamilton, Raglan 33 – Taupo, Morrinsville, Te Aroha, Turangi 34 – Cambridge, Tokoroa, Mangakino, Matamata, Putaruru 35 – Coromandel, Ngatea, Tairua, Thames, Whitianga 36 – Paeroa, Waihi, Waihi Beach, Whangamata 37 – Huntly, Ngāruawāhia, Te Kauwhata 38 – Te Awamutu 39 – Otorohanga, Taumarunui, Te Kuiti 40 – Gisborne, Ruatoria 41 – Hastings, Napier, Wairoa 42 – Waipawa, Waipukurau 43 – New Plymouth, Eltham, Inglewood, Stratford, Waitara 44 – Palmerston North 45 – Whanganui, Patea 46 – Hawera, Ohakune, Opunake, Raetihi 47 – Feilding, Marton, Taihape 48 – Ashhurst, Bulls, Foxton, Shannon, Waiouru 49 – Dannevirke, Pahiatua, Woodville 50 – Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Kapiti, Porirua, Tawa (urban); Lower Hutt (PO Box). 51 – Upper Hutt (PO Box) 52 – Kapiti, Porirua (PO Box) 53 – Kapiti, Lower Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt (rural) 54 – unused 55 – Levin, Ōtaki 56 – unused 57 – Carterton, Featherston, Greytown, Martinborough 58 – Masterton 59 – unused 60 – Wellington (urban) 61 – Wellington (PO box, central & west) 62 – Wellington (PO box, south & east) 63 – unused 64 – Wellington (PO box, north) 65 – unused 66 – unused 67 – unused 68 – unused 69 – Wellington (rural) 70 – Nelson, Richmond, Brightwater, Mapua, Wakefield 71 – Motueka, Takaka 72 – Blenheim, Picton 73 – Cheviot, Kaikoura, Hanmer Springs 74 – Rangiora, Amberley, Oxford 75 – Akaroa, Darfield 76 – Kaiapoi, Leeston, Lincoln, Prebbleton, Rolleston 77 – Ashburton, Methven, Rakaia 78 – Greymouth, Hokitika, Reefton, Westport 79 – Timaru, Geraldine, Temuka, Twizel, Waimate 80 – Christchurch (urban); Chatham Islands 81 – Christchurch (PO Box, central) 82 – Christchurch (PO Box, south) 83 – unused 84 – Christchurch (PO Box, west) 85 – Christchurch (PO Box, north) 86 – Christchurch (PO Box, central-east) 87 – unused 88 – Christchurch (PO Box, north-east and south-east) 89 – Christchurch (rural and PO Box, rural) 90 – Dunedin, Mosgiel, Port Chalmers 91 – unused 92 – Balclutha, Milton 93 – Queenstown, Alexandra, Arrowtown, Cromwell, Ranfurly, Wanaka 94 – Oamaru, Palmerston 95 – Clinton, Lawrence, Roxburgh, Tapanui 96 – Nightcaps, Ohai, Otautau, Tuatapere; Fiordland, Te Anau 97 – Gore, Lumsden, Mataura, Winton 98 – Invercargill, Bluff, Edendale, Riverton, Wyndham; Stewart Island 99 – unused

Examples

In cities and large towns, the last two digits indicate one of the four modes of delivery, as illustrated by addresses in Palmerston North:

Street address, in which mail is delivered directly to homes by the 'postie';

43 Vogel Street Roslyn Palmerston North 4414

PO Box address, in which mail is delivered to a private box, usually at a Post Shop (formerly Post Office), for collection;

PO Box 400 Palmerston North Central Palmerston North 4440

Private Bag, in which a private mail bag is delivered to an organisation such as a large company or a government department

Private Bag 11222 Manawatu Mail Centre Palmerston North 4442

Rural Delivery, used in rural areas for home deliveries.

Railway Road RD 10 Palmerston North 4470

Previous system Although postcodes were first introduced in New Zealand in 1977,Story: Mail and couriers Page 3 – Mail in the 20th century these were used entirely for pre-sorting large volumes of mail in bulk,Post Code Finder, New Zealand Post website, 13 June 1998New Zealand Post reviewing postcode system, Post & Parcel, Wednesday, 4 August 2004 similar to the Mailsort system used by Royal Mail in the United Kingdom. Consequently, postcodes were not usually seen in addresses:

New Zealand Post Private Bag 39990 Wellington Mail Centre Lower Hutt

Under the old system, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch were divided into postal zones, which were incorporated into the postcode system for use in bulk mailings. For example, for the former Wellington 4:

Flat 2 173 Park Road Johnsonville Wellington 6004

In cities and large towns, the last two digits indicated the mode of delivery, as illustrated by addresses in Palmerston North:

Street address:

43 Vogel Street Palmerston North 5301

Post Office Box address:

P O Box 4000 Palmerston North 5315

Private Bag address

Private Bag 11222 Palmerston North 5320

Rural Delivery address

Railway Road R D 10 Palmerston North 5321

NB: Prior to the changeover, New Zealand Post also required that a space be inserted between the letters 'P' and 'O' in 'PO Box' or 'R' and 'D' in 'RD'.

Māori names

New Zealand Post recognises Māori names for cities and towns in New Zealand; for example, the Māori Language Commission's address is:

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori Pouaka Poutāpeta 411 Te Whanganui a Tara 6140

In English, this translates as:

Māori Language Commission PO Box 411 Wellington 6140

In spite of the considerable difference between the two languages, there was no need to add the postcode under the old system, which in this case would have been 6015.

Freepost Mail to members of the New Zealand Parliament is delivered free of charge for individuals (organisations must pay regular rates). The cost is deducted from the Member's budget.

Rt Hon Prime Minister Private Bag 18888 Parliament Buildings Wellington 6160

Other Freepost mail includes a unique number as well as the PO Box or Private Bag number:

Freepost 112002 CARM PO Box 913 Dunedin 9054

See also Postal codes in Australia – the Australian equivalent Postal codes in Canada – the Canadian equivalent Postcodes in the United Kingdom – the United Kingdom equivalent ZIP code – the United States equivalent

References

External links New Zealand Post New Post Code finder Postcodes