International Dialing Calculator

Why international dialing is so confusing

Three things vary from country to country, and unless you get all three right, the call won't connect.

1. The exit code

Also called the IDD (international direct dialing) prefix. This tells the local network: "hey, this isn't a domestic call, route it internationally." Almost every country uses 00 as their exit code — except the US and Canada (011), Australia (0011), Japan (010), and a handful of others. From any modern mobile phone, you can substitute + for whatever the local exit code is, and it works everywhere.

2. The country code

One to three digits assigned by the ITU. The US is +1, France is +33, China is +86, Saudi Arabia is +966. These never change and there's no overlap.

3. The leading zero (trunk prefix)

Here's where most people get tripped up. In many countries, domestic numbers have a leading zero — French mobiles look like 06 12 34 56 78, UK mobiles look like 07911 123456. That leading zero is the local trunk prefix and you must drop it when dialing internationally. So a French mobile dialed from the US becomes 011 33 6 12 34 56 78, not 011 33 0 6 12 34 56 78.

The NANP (US, Canada, Caribbean) is the major exception — there's no trunk prefix in North America, so you dial the full 10 digits straight after the +1.

Common scenarios

Calling the USA from Europe

European exit code (00) + USA country code (1) + 10-digit US number. So a New York number reading 212-555-0142 is dialed as 00 1 212 555 0142.

Calling France from the USA

US exit code (011) + France country code (33) + 9-digit French number (drop the leading 0). A mobile reading 06 12 34 56 78 in France becomes 011 33 6 12 34 56 78 when dialed from the US.

Calling the UK from anywhere on mobile

Just use the + format: +44 7911 123456. Your mobile handles the exit code automatically. This works from any country, any carrier, any time.