- published: 06 Dec 2010
- views: 2196311
An international call prefix is a telephone dialing code used to dial out of a country when making an international call. They are also called international access code, exit code, etc.
These codes are different from the unique country calling code every country has which is used to dial in to that country.
When making a call between countries, the caller must first dial the international call prefix, then the destination country calling code, then (usually) an area code, then the local phone number.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) recommends 00 as the general standard for an international call prefix, and this has been implemented by a large number of countries, but not all of them. This page only lists the exceptions, but rapid developments may make this list out of date. See External links for externally maintained lists which may be more up-to-date.
When phone numbers are published for use abroad they typically include the country calling code, but show a plus sign (+) prefix in place of any international call prefix, to signify that the caller should use the prefix code appropriate for their country.