Nigeria Phone Number Format: How to Write +234 Numbers

Introduction

Writing a Nigerian phone number in international format comes down to one rule: take the number as it is written in Nigeria, delete the leading 0, and put +234 in front. A mobile shown as 0803 XXX XXXX on a Lagos business card becomes +234 803 XXX XXXX for anyone outside the country.

The details matter once you are saving contacts, cleaning a customer list or loading numbers into a dialer. This guide covers how a Nigeria phone number is built, the mobile prefixes as listed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the landline area codes that changed in 2023, worked examples and the errors that most often break a +234 number. Every example uses X in place of real digits.

Nigeria Phone Number Structure

The NCC administers Nigerian numbering under the ITU's E.164 standard. A regular number has two parts: a national destination code that identifies a mobile block or a landline area, and the subscriber number that follows it. In the NCC's November 2023 notice to the International Telecommunication Union, both mobile and fixed-line national numbers are ten digits long once the leading 0 is left off.

That 0 is the national prefix. The same notice says it must be dialed before all numbers except short codes on national calls, and that it must not be dialed from abroad. Almost every difference between the domestic and international versions of a Nigerian number comes back to this one rule.

Short numbers sit outside this pattern. The emergency number 112, which covers police, ambulance and fire services among others, is listed as a national-only number, so it has no +234 version.

Writing a Nigerian Number in International Format (+234)

Converting a number takes three edits, and they are identical for mobile and fixed lines.

1. 1Begin with the full national number, leading 0 included: 0803 XXX XXXX for a mobile, or 0201 XXX XXXX for a Lagos landline.
2. 2Delete the 0. What remains is the ten-digit national significant number, for example 803 XXX XXXX.
3. 3Place +234 in front: +234 803 XXX XXXX. For a CRM, an API or a messaging platform, strip the spaces too, giving +234803XXXXXXX.

The spaced version reads better on a website, an email signature or an invoice. The unspaced E.164 version, 14 characters long with the plus sign, is what phone systems expect. If a list gives you 234 with no plus sign, add the + rather than a 0.

The same drop-the-zero step appears in our UK phone number format guide, where +44 takes the place of the 0. Canada shares +1 with the United States and uses a different ten-digit pattern, explained in the Canada phone number format guide.

Mobile Network Prefixes: MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9mobile

Nigerian mobile numbers start with 070, 080, 081, 090 or 091, and eight more digits follow, for eleven in total. The fourth digit identifies a specific block, and the NCC publishes which operator holds each four-digit prefix.

The table below shows the prefixes as listed by the NCC in its Mobile Number Allocation Table, dated as at December 2023. Allocations change over time, so check the NCC's website for the current list before you build a rule on it.

The NCC's 2023 notice to the ITU also created two new ranges, 071X and 072X, for mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services. They use the same ten-digit length after +234 as the established mobile prefixes.

Landline Area Codes: Lagos, Abuja and Other Cities

Fixed-line numbers were restructured in 2023. The NCC put 20 in front of every existing area code, and both old and new codes worked during a parallel-running period from 10 July 2023 to 1 January 2024. A Lagos number once written 01 XXX XXXX is now 0201 XXX XXXX.

Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja have a single digit after the 20 and a seven-digit subscriber number. Other areas have two digits after the 20 and a six-digit subscriber number, so the national number comes to ten digits in both cases. For a call inside the same area, the subscriber number alone is enough.

Some NCC web pages still show the older codes, so you will find both versions in circulation. The complete list of old and new codes is in the NCC's numbering plan update published by the ITU.

Nigeria Phone Number Examples

Each example below replaces the subscriber digits with X, so none of them points to a real line. Put in the digits you were given and keep the same grouping.

Dialed from another phone in Lagos, the Lagos landline shortens to XXX XXXX. Toll-free numbers begin with 0800 and look like 0800 XXX XXXX. The NCC lists the 0700 and 0800 blocks as shared by value-added special number service licensees rather than mobile operators.

How to Call Nigeria From the US and UK

Dialing adds one element to the international format: your own country's exit code where the plus sign was. The Nigeria country code page walks through every step, so here is only the summary.

• From the US: 011, then 234, then the number without its 0. The MTN-allocated example becomes 011 234 803 XXX XXXX.
• From the UK: 00, then 234, then the number without its 0. The Lagos landline example becomes 00 234 201 XXX XXXX.
• From inside Nigeria: use the national form with the 0, such as 0803 XXX XXXX or 0201 XXX XXXX.

Calls to a Nigerian mobile use the full national number, while a landline call within the same area can use the subscriber digits alone. For your North American contacts, the US phone number format guide covers the +1 layout.

Common Formatting Mistakes

Most broken +234 numbers come from a few predictable errors. Check these when a form rejects one.

1. 1Keeping the 0 after +234. +234 0803 XXX XXXX carries one digit too many. The national prefix is never dialed from outside Nigeria, so the right form is +234 803 XXX XXXX.
2. 2Using a pre-2023 landline code. Numbers printed as 01 XXX XXXX for Lagos or 09 XXX XXXX for Abuja need the 20 added. Parallel running ended on 1 January 2024.
3. 3Saving an exit code as part of the number. 011 234 or 00234 only works from certain countries. Store +234 and let the phone or dialer supply the exit code.
4. 4Reading the prefix as the current network. With portability, a number in an MTN-allocated block may now be served by a different operator.
5. 5Miscounting digits. A standard mobile or landline number has exactly ten digits after +234. Any other count means a digit was added or lost.

Conclusion

Written for use abroad, a Nigerian number is +234 followed by ten digits, with the national 0 removed. In national form, mobiles begin 070, 080, 081, 090 or 091, and landlines carry the 020 codes introduced in 2023, such as 0201 for Lagos and 0209 for Abuja.

Because the NCC reallocates blocks and portability lets subscribers move between networks, go back to the NCC's published table whenever a prefix matters. If your team phones contacts in Nigeria from the United States, Ringflow offers US local and toll-free numbers on its mobile and desktop apps, with number porting and a free trial.

FAQ