Missing Postal Codes

Jhon13 · 2024-04-02T12:51:11.221Z

Hello everyone!

I’m implementing OpenStreetMap to find the geolocation of addresses that customers input in their search. We have realized that Portugal’s postal code data is not very populated.

Many postal codes are not correctly identified, for example, 6270-481, 6270-459, 6270-262, 1100-083, 1100-087, 1170-006, 1200-100. These are just a few, but the list is really extensive. It also happens for some postal codes in Finland and Sweden (that we have noticed so far).

I know that OpenStreetMap is open source and it has its pros and cons, but then my main question today is if you have faced these issues before and what solution have you been able to find for it?

Perhaps there’s a more economic solution than connecting to Google Maps API to complement the postal code data quality?

I appreciate your comments!

sanjorgepinho · 2024-04-02T19:33:42.090Z

Hello @Jhon13
I don’t understand what you mean by “Many postal codes are not correctly identified, for example, 6270-481, 6270-459, 6270-262, 1100-083, 1100-087, 1170-006, 1200-100.”

So let’s see:

The postal code 6270-481 corresponds to Avenida Doutor Afonso Costa, in Seia;
The postal code 6270-459, corresponds to Rua Creche da Misericórdia - Senhor das Almas, in Seia;
The postal code 6270-262, corresponds to Bairro Vila Alzira, in São Romão;
The postal code 1100-083, corresponds to the odd numbers between 1 and 133, on Rua do Benformoso, in Lisbon;
The postal code 1100-087, corresponds to the even numbers between 92 and 276, on Rua do Benformoso, in Lisbon;
The postal code 1170-006, corresponds to the even numbers between 42 and 46, on Rua Afonso Domingues, in Lisbon;
The postal code 1200-100, corresponds to the odd numbers between 75 and 89, on Rua Cecilio de Sousa, in Lisbon.

As you can see, all your problems that you described have answers, just put your postal codes in:

CTT

Enviar Correio e Encomendas | Encontre o seu Endereço

500 anos de dedicação, empenho e profissionalismo, para aproximar os portugueses e o mundo.

and you will have the answer.

I wish you good work
Jorge Pinho

nardo05 · 2024-04-02T22:02:36.710Z

As far as I’m aware, the situation regarding postal codes is a complicated one as, for many years (and even now I’m unsure), the only official list of postal codes was owned by the post office and you’d have to pay to license it. Nowadays, it appears as though they release it publically (although an account seems to be necessary). There’s another source which just seems to have repackaged the post office data, but not even they are sure of the license (they believe it falls under PDDL, but there’s no official confirmation). As for OpenStreetMap, I believe the postal codes haven’t been imported (probably due to the legal uncertainty), but I may be wrong.

Jhon13 · 2024-04-03T06:53:46.749Z

Hi Jorge!

Thanks a lot for the input, I had no idea there was an almost public list of Portugal postal codes, indeed it’s very helpful. Although we still lack the geolocations for each postal code, so our system can correctly “translate” a given address to a point in the map, since we want to have it all automated.

Jhon13 · 2024-04-03T06:57:59.911Z

Hey Bernardo,
Thanks for the input; I’m amazed and shocked at how a topic like this about postal codes that are meant to help everyone’s business and lives is still a bit in the gray zone area. I’m still looking into many places to find what can be the best way to geolocate an address and then use that geolocation reference for our next calculations.