GS1 EAN-13 barcodes are used worldwide for marking products sold at retail POS. The numbers encoded in EAN-13 bar codes are product identification numbers. All the numbers encoded in UPC/EAN barcodes are known as Global Trade Item Numbers (GTIN).
Less common GS1 EAN-8 barcodes are also used for retail goods; however, they are mostly used on smaller items such as confectionery. 2-digit (EAN-2) and 5-digit (EAN-5) supplementary barcodes can be added to achieve a total of 14 or 17 digits. These are generally used for periodicals — to indicate the current year’s issue number; or books and weighed products such as food produce — to indicate the manufacturer-suggested retail price.