EAN-2 Supplement

Periodical publishing accounts for nearly all use of EAN-2, a two-digit supplement printed alongside an EAN-13 to distinguish one issue of a magazine or newspaper from another within the same title. Two numeric digits are all it holds, sufficient for an issue or edition number but not for pricing or serialisation. The supplement shares the 0.264 mm X-dimension of the EAN/UPC family, stands 20.73 mm tall, and requires quiet zones of seven and five modules. It carries no GTIN and is not a GS1 data carrier in its own right; a reader returns its value appended to the number from the primary symbol. Introduced with the EAN system in 1977, it remains in service wherever a serial title needs issue-level granularity at the point of sale.