Postcodes in New Zealand

Allocation

The first two digits specify the area, the third digit specifies the type of delivery (street, PO Box, Private Bag, or Rural delivery), and the last digit specifies the specific lobby, RD (rural delivery) number, or suburb.

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, these were used entirely for pre-sorting large volumes of mail in bulk, similar to the Mailsort system used by Royal Mail in the United Kingdom. Consequently, post codes 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 post code 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 was 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 post code under the old system, which in this case would have been 6015.

Freepost

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

Rt Hon Bill English 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

Third party registered postal operators

Until recently NZ Post has had the majority of influence on Private Box rentals. But now DX Mail and Private Box provide an alternative solution for people who need a remote box address. Along with the new competitors in the marketplace NZ Post may find it difficult to keep up with the new addressing system, which is why they have set a standard for addressing mail.