Voltage by Country: 80 Countries With 50/60Hz And Plugs

There are only two numbers you need before you can say whether an appliance will work in a given country: the voltage at the wall and the frequency of the supply. Everything else, including plug shape and socket type, is a mechanical detail you can solve with a five dollar adapter. Voltage and frequency change what happens inside the appliance, and no adapter fixes either of them.

This page exists because the same question reaches us in a dozen forms every week. Someone buys a 110V espresso machine in Dubai and cannot understand why it needs a box the size of a shoebox. Someone else ships a container of 60Hz air conditioners to a 50Hz market and finds out at commissioning. A third buys a 240V welder for a site that measures 208V and blames the welder. All three are the same problem: the numbers were never checked against the destination.

Below is the reference table we use ourselves, built from actual shipments and corrected against what our customers measure on site. Underneath the table is the part that matters more, which is what the second number, frequency, does to a transformer once it is installed.

Two numbers decide whether you need a transformer

Voltage decides whether a transformer is needed at all. An appliance has a design voltage, and it will work within roughly plus or minus 10 percent of it. Outside that band it either under-performs or overheats. When the appliance’s design voltage and the local supply sit on opposite sides of the 110 to 220 divide, you need a step up or step down transformer, and its rating depends on the load, not on the country.

Frequency decides whether the appliance will survive long term even when the voltage is right. A transformer does not care much, but a motor does, and so does anything with a synchronous clock or a filter tuned to mains. This is the number people forget, and it is the reason the Philippines is awkward: 220V at 60Hz is a combination that surprises European buyers, who expect 220V to mean 50Hz.

Get both right and the rest is a plug adapter and a cable. Get one wrong and no amount of careful transformer selection will save the appliance.

The country table: voltage, frequency and plug type

Eighty markets live in the lookup tool above. Seventy-six of them are printed below, grouped by region, which covers every market we ship to in volume. Voltages are nominal, meaning the figure the utility is required to supply, not what you will always measure. Plug types follow the standard letters from A to N.

Asia and the Pacific

Middle East and Africa

Europe and the Americas

Nominal is not measured: why 220V arrives as 205V

The figure in the table is a contract between the utility and its customers. Around that figure there is a tolerance band, usually plus or minus 10 percent, and inside that band the utility is considered to be delivering correctly. A 220V nominal supply is therefore acceptable anywhere from 198V to 242V. That is a wide range, and it explains the calls we get from customers whose meter disagrees with the table.

The band matters for three reasons. First, transformers are usually wound with a fixed primary tap and a small number of alternative taps, so a site sitting permanently at 205V on a 220V nominal supply is running its transformer at 93 percent of design flux, which is harmless but does mean the secondary delivers 205V instead of 220V to an appliance expecting 220V. Second, motors draw more current at lower voltage for the same mechanical output, so a pump on a sagging supply runs hotter and fails sooner. Third, in markets where the local wiring is thin and the evening peak is heavy, the sag can be much worse than the tolerance band: we have customers in Lagos and Karachi measuring below 190V at seven in the evening on a 230V nominal supply.

For that last group there are only two practical answers. A voltage stabiliser in front of the load, or a transformer with a wider tap range, so the unit can be set to what the site actually sees. If you are ordering for a market with known supply quality problems, tell us and we will build the taps accordingly. The minimum quantity for a custom voltage is 10 pieces, so it is worth planning that at the container level rather than ordering one unit and discovering the option too late.

The two voltage families, and the odd ones in between

The world splits roughly into a low family around 100 to 130V and a high family around 220 to 240V. The split is historical rather than technical. Countries that built their networks early, on the Edison pattern, ended up low; countries that rebuilt after the war on European equipment ended up high. Both work. What matters is that an appliance built for one family does not work on the other without a transformer.

The awkward cases are the countries that ended up with both, and the countries that picked a nominal value that does not sit neatly on either side.

Brazil runs 127V in most states and 220V in others, all at 60Hz. A single order can need two different transformers, and the fast way to check is to ask the customer for the state rather than the country.

Saudi Arabia runs 230V at 60Hz, with 127V still present in older districts. That combination, high voltage with US frequency, is the reason Saudi projects so often need a bespoke unit.

Peru runs 220V at 60Hz. Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador run 110 to 120V at 60Hz. Mexico runs 127V at 60Hz, which sits close enough to 120V that most US appliances work, but far enough that nameplate ratings should not be read loosely.

Japan runs 100V, the lowest nominal in the world, and splits the country at 50Hz in the east and 60Hz in the west. A 100V appliance taken to a 110V or 120V market is over its rating by 10 to 20 percent, which shortens its life even though it appears to work.

Australia, India, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Kenya and Uganda list 230V or 240V nominal while most equipment is rated 220 to 240V. In practice that whole band behaves as one market and a 220V appliance is fine across it.

110, 115, 120 and 127: the low voltage group explained

These four numbers are often treated as interchangeable, and for most loads they are. The differences matter at the edges.

100V is Japan only. Treat it as its own case, because a 100V appliance on 120V is 20 percent over, which is outside the tolerance band.

110V barely exists as a nominal supply any more, but it persists on nameplates because so much equipment from the sixties and seventies carried it. A 110V appliance on a 120V supply is 9 percent over, right at the limit of the band. It usually works and it usually runs a little warm.

115V is a compromise figure used on a lot of US industrial nameplates. On a 120V supply it is 4 percent over, which is comfortable.

120V is the US and Canadian standard, and the reference point for most of what is sold as a 110V product.

127V is Mexico and parts of Brazil. It is also what a three phase 220V supply gives you phase to neutral in a 220/127 network, which is why it appears in buildings that were wired for three phase distribution.

If an appliance is marked 100 to 240V, none of this matters and you only need an adapter. If it is marked with a single figure, size the transformer to that figure and set the taps to the measured supply.

220, 230, 240 and 200: the high voltage group explained

The same logic applies at the top of the range. Europe harmonised on 230V, which was a political compromise between the 220V used in most of the continent and the 240V used in the UK and a few others. Both legacy values are still within tolerance of 230V, which is why the whole continent works with one nominal figure on paper while measuring anything from 216V to 245V in practice.

200V appears in Japan for larger appliances and in a few industrial settings elsewhere. It is far enough from 220V that a 200V motor on 220V runs 10 percent over its rated flux, which is the edge of acceptable.

208V is the phase to phase voltage of a US three phase 120/208 network, and it is the figure that most often catches importers out. A European machine rated 230V running on 208V is 9.6 percent under, which means it draws more current for the same output and its motors run hot. This is a case where a small step up transformer is the right answer and a bigger one is not.

415V and 440V are three phase industrial values, and they sit alongside 380V and 400V in the same markets. For three phase loads, the phase to phase figure is what the transformer is rated at.

What frequency actually does to a transformer

A transformer does not create or consume frequency. It passes it through. What frequency does is decide how much flux the core carries for a given voltage, and flux is what sets the excitation current, the core loss and the winding temperature.

The relationship that matters is flux proportional to voltage divided by frequency. Keep the ratio and the core behaves the same. Change it and the core changes behaviour, sometimes dramatically.

The practical rule for anyone buying across the frequency divide: a 50Hz transformer can be used on 60Hz almost without thought, and a 60Hz transformer on 50Hz needs either a derate or a lower supply voltage. Since we wind the standard range for 50/60Hz operation where the frame allows, most of our customers never meet the problem. It arrives with used equipment imported from the US into a 50Hz market, or with a machine built to a US spec and shipped to a 50Hz site.

There is a second frequency effect that is easier to hear than to calculate. A transformer designed for 60Hz run at 50Hz hums louder, because the core is closer to saturation and the magnetostriction gets stronger. If a customer reports a unit that has become noisy after being moved to a different country, frequency is the first thing we ask about.

What frequency actually does to a motor

Motors are less forgiving than transformers. The speed of an induction motor is set by frequency and pole count, so a 50Hz motor moved to a 60Hz supply runs about 20 percent faster. That changes the mechanical output, the bearing load and the cooling, and on a pump or a fan it changes the load curve entirely, because power on those loads rises with the cube of speed.

Going the other way is no better. A 60Hz motor on 50Hz runs 17 percent slower, and if the voltage stays the same the flux in the magnetic circuit rises, so the motor heats up for the same mechanical work. This is the standard reason a 60Hz air conditioner installed on a 50Hz supply trips its internal protection after twenty minutes.

The clean answer, when the load is a motor and the frequency is wrong, is a variable frequency drive, which sets both voltage and frequency to whatever the motor wants. The expensive answer is a motor rewound for the local frequency. The answer that fails quietly is a transformer, because a transformer fixes voltage and leaves frequency alone.

For a fuller treatment of this specific case, including the torque curves, see the page on 50Hz versus 60Hz and transformers.

Plug types A to N without the wall chart

Fourteen letters, but only five patterns that matter in practice.

Type A and B are the North American flat pin pair. A is two pins, B adds a round earth pin. Used in the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

Type C is the Europlug, two round pins, no earth. It fits into most type E, F, J and K sockets, which is why a Europlug device travels well across Europe and much of Asia and Africa.

Type D and M are the old British round pin patterns, still widespread in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and parts of Africa and the Middle East. Do not confuse them with type G.

Type G is the British three rectangular pin with a fuse in the plug. It dominates the UK, the Gulf, Malaysia, Singapore, Kenya, Nigeria and Hong Kong, China.

Type E, F, I, J, K, L and N cover the rest: French, German, Australasian, Swiss, Danish, Italian and Brazilian patterns. Type N is the Brazilian one, with three round pins in a triangle.

For the pin spacing, earth position and current rating of each, we keep a separate page with the full world plug and socket types breakdown. What matters here is the split between a plug problem and a voltage problem. A plug problem costs a few dollars. A voltage problem costs a transformer.

When an adapter is enough and when it is not

Read the appliance label. There are three cases and only three.

The label says 100 to 240V, 50/60Hz. This is a switched mode supply and it handles anything in the world. You need a plug adapter and nothing else. Most laptops, phone chargers, camera chargers, electric shavers and modern televisions fall here.

The label says one low voltage, such as 120V only. On a 220 to 240V supply you need a step down transformer. Its VA rating comes from the appliance wattage plus margin, not from the country. The page on the sizing calculator walks through that arithmetic.

The label says one high voltage, such as 230V only. On a 100 to 120V supply you need a step up transformer, which is a different product from a step down unit unless you buy a dual direction frame. Our STU and DT units switch direction by wiring, which is useful when a customer ships equipment both ways.

There is a fourth case that catches people out: the label says 220V and the site measures 208V. The appliance will run, at 5 percent below its design point, and for a heater that is fine and for a compressor it is not. Check the measurement, not the nominal figure.

Three phase supply by market

Single phase is what a wall socket gives you. Three phase is what a building takes from the street, and the difference matters as soon as the load passes about 10 kVA.

Most of Europe, the Gulf, Africa and Asia run 400V or 415V three phase, which gives 230 to 240V phase to neutral. North America runs 208V three phase in commercial buildings and 480V in industrial ones, giving 120V or 277V phase to neutral. Brazil runs 220V three phase in the 127V states and 380V in the 220V states. Japan runs 200V three phase, which is lower than almost anywhere else.

For a single phase load above 10 kVA on a three phase supply, the right design is a three phase transformer with the single phase loads distributed across the phases downstream. A large single phase transformer on one phase unbalances the supply, and the imbalance shows up as voltage variation on the other two phases, which then affects every motor in the building. The single phase versus three phase page covers the current arithmetic and the practical limits.

Notes on the markets we ship to most

Saudi Arabia. 230V at 60Hz, with 127V in older districts and a 400V three phase supply. The frequency is the surprise for European suppliers, and it is why a standard 50Hz unit is not the right answer for a motor load. Our page on the step down transformer for Saudi Arabia goes into the local detail.

Nigeria. 230V at 50Hz on paper, with measured values well below that in the evening and a heavy reliance on generators. Voltage stability matters more than nominal voltage here, and units ordered for Lagos often want a wider tap range. See the Nigeria page for the site conditions we usually plan for.

Philippines. 220V at 60Hz. American-style appliances and European-style voltage in the same market, which is exactly the combination that needs care. There is a dedicated page on 220V to 110V for the Philippines.

Brazil. Two voltages and 60Hz, decided by state. Ask which state before quoting, because a mixed container is common and the taps are not the same. The Brazil 127V and 220V page explains the split.

Indonesia. 230V at 50Hz, with 220V still the figure on many nameplates. Practically the same market. Details on the Indonesia voltage converter page.

Thailand, Vietnam and Mexico. 230V, 220V and 127V respectively, all at local frequency with their own quirks in rural areas. We have written about Thailand and Mexico separately.

How to measure the real voltage on site

Five minutes with a multimeter beats an hour of guessing, and it is the single most useful thing a buyer can send us.

Measure at the socket where the appliance will actually be plugged in, not at the distribution board. Measure three times: once in the morning, once at the evening peak, and once when the largest load in the building is running. Write down all three, plus the frequency if your meter shows it.

If the three readings differ by more than 8 percent, the site has a supply quality problem and the transformer needs a wider tap range. If the peak reading is below 200V on a nominal 220V supply, the load is probably going to be running at reduced performance even with a correctly sized transformer, and a stabiliser is worth discussing.

Then photograph the appliance label. The label and the three measurements together tell us more than any description, and they let us set the taps correctly before the unit leaves the factory rather than after it arrives.

If you are still working out how much transformer the load needs, start with the transformer sizing calculator, and if the load is mostly motors, the inrush current guide is worth reading before you commit. For the product side of the question, the step up and step down range shows the frames we build and the taps each one can carry.

Frequently asked questions