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Decimal Point vs Decimal Comma vs Other Decimal Separators

June 29, 2015 9 Comments

DecimalSeparator

Map created by Wikipedia user Shibo77

If you live in the English speaking world, you probably take it for granted that you separate decimals from whole numbers using a point. However, you may be surprised to learn that many countries use commas or other decimal marks to separate decimals from whole numbers instead.

According to Wikipedia the following countries use a period/full stop:

  1. Australia
  2. Botswana
  3. British West Indies
  4. Brunei
  5. China, People’s Republic of
  6. Dominican Republic
  7. Egypt
  8. Ghana
  9. Guatemala
  10. Honduras
  11. Hong Kong
  12. India
  13. Ireland
  14. Israel
  15. Japan
  16. Kenya
  17. Korea (both North and South)
  18. Lebanon
  19. Malaysia
  20. Malta
  21. Mexico
  22. Mongolia
  23. Nepal
  24. New Zealand
  25. Nicaragua
  26. Nigeria
  27. Pakistan
  28. Panama
  29. Philippines
  30. Singapore
  31. Sri Lanka
  32. Taiwan
  33. Tanzania
  34. Thailand
  35. Uganda
  36. United Kingdom
  37. United States (including insular areas)
  38. Zimbabwe

The following countries use commas:

  1. Albania
  2. Andorra
  3. Angola
  4. Argentina
  5. Armenia
  6. Austria
  7. Azerbaijan
  8. Belarus
  9. Belgium
  10. Bolivia
  11. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  12. Brazil
  13. Bulgaria
  14. Cameroon
  15. Chile
  16. Colombia
  17. Costa Rica
  18. Cuba
  19. Cyprus
  20. Czech Republic
  21. Denmark
  22. East Timor
  23. Ecuador
  24. Estonia
  25. Faroes
  26. Finland
  27. France
  28. Germany
  29. Georgia
  30. Greece
  31. Greenland
  32. Iceland
  33. Indonesia
  34. Italy
  35. Kazakhstan
  36. Kosovo
  37. Kyrgyzstan
  38. Latvia
  39. Lebanon
  40. Lithuania
  41. Macedonia
  42. Moldova
  43. Mongolia
  44. Morocco
  45. Mozambique
  46. Namibia
  47. The Netherlands
  48. Norway
  49. Paraguay
  50. Peru
  51. Poland
  52. Portugal
  53. Romania
  54. Russia
  55. Serbia
  56. Slovakia
  57. Slovenia
  58. South Africa
  59. Spain
  60. Sweden
  61. Tunisia
  62. Turkey
  63. Ukraine
  64. Uruguay
  65. Uzbekistan
  66. Venezuela
  67. Vietnam

And the following use both:

  1. Canada (period when using English, comma when using French)
  2. Croatia (comma used officially, but both forms are in use)
  3. Hungary (comma is official but both are used)
  4. Luxembourg (uses both marks officially)
  5. Macau (full stop in Chinese and English text and comma in Portuguese text)
  6. Switzerland

Finally those using Eastern Arabic numerals or momayyez include:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. Bahrain
  3. Iran
  4. Iraq
  5. Jordan
  6. Kuwait
  7. Oman
  8. Qatar
  9. Saudi Arabia
  10. Syria
  11. United Arab Emirates

Want to learn more about the history of numbers? Then read:

  • Finding Zero: A Mathematician’s Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers
  • The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer
  • Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers

Which system do you prefer? Leave your comments below:

Filed Under: World Maps Tagged With: numbers

Comments

  1. LOUNIS KHENICHE says

    July 7, 2017 at 8:34 am

    You forgot to mention Algeria on the list of countries using comma as decimal separator

    Reply
  2. Sam Nguyn says

    August 20, 2019 at 5:52 pm

    Switzerland does not use both, it uses “comma”. In Switzerland, the apostrophe is used to group 1’000s.

    Reply
    • net says

      March 22, 2020 at 12:25 pm

      Comma isn’t used in computing in Switzerland. Switzerland uses a dot (.) for computer and, for handwriting comma (,) is used.

      Reply
  3. Dave says

    May 30, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    Another wonderful example of globalization ruining the planet

    Reply
  4. Larry Rosenthal says

    January 2, 2021 at 8:16 pm

    Only the US has insular areas? Really? Not the UK? Not Russia? Not Israel? Feh.

    Reply
  5. Hayley says

    January 3, 2021 at 9:58 pm

    You forgot to include Montenegro where a comma is used, in line with most other countries in the Former Yugoslavia region.

    Reply
  6. Babila Tachu says

    January 4, 2021 at 12:50 am

    Cameroon (majority French, minority English) uses both; just like Canada (majority English, minority French) uses both.

    Reply
  7. Carlo says

    January 27, 2021 at 4:52 pm

    Namibia and South Africa both use (only) periods and not commas. Your list is wrong.

    Reply
    • Jan Hofmeyr says

      February 2, 2022 at 8:59 am

      Really? I use the comma. My firm uses the comma. All my engineering colleagues use the comma.

      Reply

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