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How to create a GTIN

Retail products are also known as consumer units or base units. Products for sale in a retail outlet or online should be identified with a 13-digit number called a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN).

A consumer product GTIN or barcode number is created by combining the GS1 Company Prefix licenced to you with a unique item reference.

  • Depending upon the length of your company prefix you will allocate item reference for your product that contains a certain number of digits. The company prefix plus the item reference will give you a total of 12 digits. Item references should be allocated sequentially from zero, without any in-built significance and recorded securely and accurately.
  • The final 13th digit is a "Check Digit". Use the check digit calculator to calculate a check digit.
  • You can also create a GTIN based your GS1 Company Prefix using our tool.

The 13-digit GTIN may be represented in barcode format using the EAN 13 symbol. For more information about barcoding your product visit our 10 steps to barcode your product page.