10.5. Numbers, dates and time

In general, numbers from one to nine are spelled out, while digits are used thereafter.

  1. Figures or words?

    1. When words should be used

      As a rule, use words for the numbers one to nine:

      They have three children: two girls and one boy.

      In January 1966, the six Member States reached an agreement.

      Note that the numbers one to nine (including ordinals) are also written out when preceding all units of time: one day, four months, six years, two decades, three centuries, four-day week, first day of the conference. Units of time in a range denoted by an en dash or a hyphen are an exception to this rule (see below).

    2. When figures should be used

      Use figures for numbers greater than or equal to 10, and in the following cases:

      • for all numbers containing a decimal point (or a decimal comma in the Official Journal; see Section 6.5):

        1.0, 5.5

      • for all whole numbers where at least one number in a range not conjoined by an en dash or a hyphen (or in a list of items in running text) is 10 or above:

        9 to 11 not nine to 11

        The term of office of 13 Judges and 5 Advocates General of the Court of Justice will end on 6 October 2024.

      • when presenting statistics in which two or more numbers are compared (‘3 new officials were appointed in 2002, 6 in 2003 and …’);
      • for votes (‘12 delegations were in favour, 7 against and 6 abstained’);
      • for ranges denoted by an en dash or a hyphen, including with units of time (1–3 days, 2‑4 weeks);
      • when citing serial numbers, except when quoting a source that does otherwise (e.g. Part One of the TFEU);

      • with units of measurement, irrespective of whether the units are denoted by symbols or abbreviations or are spelled out:

        EUR 50, 250 kW, 205 μg, 5 °C

        250 kilowatts, 500 metres

    3. When either figures or words can be used

      Numbers in the hundreds or thousands may be presented either as figures:

      400, EUR 3 000, 9 500

      or as words:

      four hundred, three thousand euro, nine thousand five hundred

      but not as a mixture of the two (i.e. do not write ‘4 hundred’, ‘EUR 3 thousand’ or ‘9 thousand 5 hundred’).

      The words ‘million’ and ‘billion’, however, may be combined with either words or figures, or numbers in the millions or billions can be written entirely in figures (though note that monetary amounts in the Official Journal must always be written in figures; see Section 7.3.3):

      three million or 3 million or 3 000 000, four billion or 4 billion or 4 000 000 000

      When two numbers are adjacent, spell out one of them:

      90 fifty-gram weights, seventy 25-cent stamps

      Similarly, where a sentence combines two sets of different figures, it is often clearer to use words for one and figures for the other:

      Twelve of the children were over 10 and one was 9.

      A sentence starting with a figure will often look out of place. Consider writing it out in full, changing the word order or otherwise rewording: ‘Nineteen delegates attended the meeting’, ‘In October 2024, 1 053 236 migratory movements were recorded …’, ‘The year 2020 was marked by …’. However, a sentence beginning with a percentage may start with a figure: ‘32 % of the funds …’.

  2. Ordinal numbers. First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth (one to nine inclusive written in full)

    but

    10th, 11th, … 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, etc.

    However, the ‘first to ninth’ rule does not always apply to ordinal numbers:

    2nd edition, 5th place

    but

    third country, the third meeting of the committee, third party, First World, first and foremost, the second time

    In addition, in some legal documents, dates and reference to dates are written out in full:

    This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

    The thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and eighty-one.

  3. Groupings of thousands. See Section 6.5.
  4. Billion. ‘Billion’ is used to designate a thousand million (and not a million million) and ‘trillion’ a million million. Note that the words ‘million’, ‘billion’ and ‘trillion’ can be combined with figures: 3 000 million.

  5. Abbreviating ‘million’ and ‘billion’. Do not use abbreviations like mio, bio, k, mill. The letters ‘m’ and ‘bn’ can be used for sums of money to avoid frequent repetitions of million, billion; this applies particularly in tables where space is limited. The abbreviation is preceded by a hard space:

    €230 000 m, $370 000 bn, £490 bn

  6. Fractions. Insert hyphens when used as an adverb or adjective (two-thirds complete, a two-thirds increase), but not when used as a noun (an increase of two thirds).

    Avoid combining figures and words:

    two-thirds completed (not ⅔ completed)

    When using figures for a fraction, use the fraction symbol where possible and close it up to any previous figure, e.g. 1½ years.

  7. Decimal separator. See Section 6.5.

  8. Percentages. 15 % (the symbol is preceded by a hard space). In words write ‘per cent’ (two words, no point).

    • In statistics each decimal place, even if zero, adds to accuracy: 3.5 % is not the same as 3.50 % or 3½ %. The fraction is more approximate.
    • Make the distinction between ‘%’ and the arithmetic difference between two percentages, i.e. the ‘percentage point(s)’.
  9. Units of measurement. See Annex A3.
  10. Pagination. p. 250, pp. 250–255, Figure 5, footnote 6.

  11. Dates

    1. Decades. The 1990s (no apostrophe; never use ‘the nineties’, etc.).

    2. Dates in the text should always be given in their full form (6 June 2012; day in figures followed by a hard space, month spelled out, year in figures), except for references to the OJ, which should always be abbreviated. In footnotes, be consistent. When abbreviating, do not use leading zeros; use points to separate the day, month and year; and write out the year in full, i.e. 6.6.2012, not 06.06.12.

      Wednesday 15 May 2013 (no comma after the day of the week).

      Avoid redundancy. If the year in question is absolutely clear from the context, the year number may be left out: ‘on 23 July 2001, the committee adopted … but subsequently on 2 August, it decided …’

    3. Time spans. Use a closed-up en dash or hyphen (see Sections 10.1.8 and 10.1.11) for year ranges:

      1939–1945 / 2015–2021 (but in legislative texts, use ‘to’ rather than an en dash or hyphen: 2015 to 2021)

      The word ‘inclusive’ is not added after the date, as it is superfluous in all expressions of time.

      1991/1992 = one year: marketing year, financial year, academic year (see Section 10.1.11).

      Note:

      ‘from 1990 to 1995’ (not ‘from 1990–1995’)

      ‘between 1990 and 1995’ (not ‘between 1990–1995’)

      ‘At its meeting from 23 to 25 July …’ (not ‘… 23–25 July …’)

      At its meeting on 23 and 24 July …’ (not ‘… 23/24 July …’)

      1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019 (preferable to: 1 May 2018–30 April 2019)

      However, when referring to a specific document or event, dates and time spans should be written exactly as they appear in the title:

      HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2015–16

      Innovate Finance Global Summit 2017

      Hull City of Culture 2017

      Instead of writing ‘the 2006–2010 period’, consider omitting the word ‘period’ and simply writing ‘from 2006 to 2010’ or ‘between 2006 and 2010’.

    4. Dates as qualifiers. Dates and time spans precede the expression they qualify:

      ‘The 2007–2013 work programme …’ (not ‘The work programme 2007–2013 … ’)

      ‘The 2012/2013 financial year …’ (not ‘The financial year 2012/2013 …’)

      ‘The 2014 action plan …’ (not ‘The action plan 2014 …’)

      ‘The 2012 annual report …’ (not ‘The annual report 2012 …)

  12. Time. The 24-hour system is preferred, but in less formal registers you may use the 12 hour system with a.m. and p.m.

    • 24-hour system

      Use leading zeros and a colon, e.g. 09:30. In some cases, the seconds are also indicated, e.g. 09:30:05.

      The full hour is written with zero minutes: 12:00 (midday), 14:00. Midnight may be written as either 00:00 (beginning of the given date) or 24:00 (end of the given date), i.e. 24:00 of one day is the same time as 00:00 of the following one.

    • 12-hour system

      Use a point and avoid leading zeros (e.g. 9.15 a.m., not 09.15 a.m.).

      The full hour is not written with zero minutes (e.g. 9 a.m., not 9.00 a.m.).

      ‘Midday/noon’ and ‘midnight’ should be used in preference to 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.

    In English, times are not followed by h or hrs in either the 24 or the 12-hour system.