X&Y Postcode Coordinates: Product Detail
The X&Y
Postcode Coordinates file is driven by the full postcode (e.g. UB7 7JY). The UK currently has close to 1.8 million full postcodes with each postcode representing on average fifteen sites (properties). This however can fluctuate between a single site per postcode to one hundred properties, which is the maximum.
In earlier times a Postcode could cover addresses for up to twelve Thoroughfares. This is now restricted to 1 although some historic postcodes may contain more.
Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) X&Y Postcode Coordinates defined by Ordnance Survey's Code-Point is 99% more accurate than Royal Mail's PostZon system. The 6 figure X&Y Postcode Coordinates are based upon the British National Grid System and measure Postcode locations in meters from the national (0, 0) point of origin. The longitude and latitude references indicate the location to 1 meter accuracy of the first building within the Postcode.
As Ordnance Survey only provide data for Great Britain (England, Scotland & Wales), X&Y Postcode Coordinates for Northern Ireland (Postcodes that begin with postcode area BT) are taken from Royal Mail 's PostZon data file. These PostZon X&Y coordinates are only accurate to approximately one hundred meters and are therefore less accurate than the X&Y Postcode Coordinates provided by Ordnance Survey.
The X&Y Postcode Coordinates data is supplied as two separate CSV text files in order to allow opening and viewing of the data in Excel 2007 which overcomes earlier record size restrictions.
The X&Y Postcode Coordinates file is driven by the full postcode (e.g. UB7 7JY). The UK currently has close to 1.8 million full postcodes with each postcode representing on average fifteen sites (properties). This however can fluctuate between a single site per postcode to one hundred properties, which is the maximum.
In earlier times a Postcode could cover addresses for up to twelve Thoroughfares. This is now restricted to 1 although some historic postcodes may contain more.
Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) Longitude and Latitude grid references defined by Ordnance Survey's Code-Point is 99% more accurate than Royal Mail's PostZon system. The 6 figure postcode references are based upon the British National Grid System and measure Postcode locations in meters from the national (0, 0) point of origin. The longitude and latitude references indicate the location to 1 meter accuracy of the first building within the Postcode.
As Ordnance Survey only provide data for Great Britain (England, Scotland & Wales), X&Y Postcode Coordinates for Northern Ireland (Postcodes that begin with postcode area BT) are taken from Royal Mail 's PostZon data file. These PostZon grid references are only accurate to approximately one hundred meters and are therefore less accurate than the Longitude and Latitude grid references provided by Ordnance Survey's GB coordinates.
The Longitude and Latitude data is supplied as two separate CSV text files in order to allow opening and viewing of the data in Excel 2007 which overcomes earlier record size restrictions.
We have enhanced the X&Y Postcode Coordinates file to include Ordnance Survey Code Point data (1 meter accuracy) and Royal Mail's PostZon data (100 meter accuracy) to represent the UK rather than just Great Britain (GB).
The X&Y Postcode Coordinates file contains a 6 figure postcode latitude Longitude (Easting Northing Grid Reference) for each of the 1.8 million postcodes in the UK. The ability to accurately locate postcodes and their postcode latitude longitude is an essential requirement for many industries including distribution, logistics, retail, insurance and local government.
Download Specification Document 
Sample of the file
Postcode X&Y Coordinates File Overview:
- Approx. 1.8 million postcodes with their longitude and latitude grid references
- 9 data fields in total
- 100mb (uncompressed)
- Supplied as 2 x CSV text files downloaded in a single compressed zip file. Other formats available upon request
Postcode X&Y Coordinate Fields Provided
- Full Postcode
- Postcode Sector
- Postcode District
- Postcode Area
- PQI
- X Coord
- Y Coord
- Longitude
- Latitude
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