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How do I know which country or region my customer belongs to on WhatsApp?

Quick answer

There is no direct official feature in WhatsApp / WhatsApp Business API / WhatsApp Cloud API that guarantees you can know exactly "which country or region a customer belongs to" — but there are common practical methods businesses use to infer a user's country/region.


When should I use this guide?

Reference these steps any time you need to confirm pricing tiers, filter analytics by geography, or troubleshoot why a conversation was billed at an unexpected international rate.



How country detection works

  1. Generally, a user’s phone number includes an international country code. That code often corresponds to the country where the number was originally issued. For example, a number starting with +91 suggests India.
  2. If your business receives the phone number (via contact form, checkout, or WhatsApp contact), you can parse the country code to infer the country/region.
  3. For API-based integrations (e.g., with Cloud API), when a user interacts, you receive their phone number — you can extract the code programmatically.


Warning

Country code doesn’t always reflect the actual user location. People might travel or use a foreign-issued SIM; the area code doesn’t guarantee where they currently are.



What to do in such scenario

  1. Ask users (collect location explicitly): Because metadata alone is unreliable, many businesses proactively ask users for location (country, city) as part of onboarding, checkout, or first message. This remains the most reliable way to know a user's region.
  2. Use internal CRM / user-profile data: If you maintain a CRM linked to WhatsApp contacts, you can store additional data like "Country / Region" when the user provides it. Later messages to that user can refer to the stored profile.



Where can I view the detected region?

Platform area

Is the country visible?

How to find it

Inbox / Chat panel

✅ Yes

Hover over or expand the full phone number

Conversation reports

✅ Yes

"Region" column in the CSV export

Customer profile view

✅ Yes

Auto-populated "Country" field on profile creation

API responses

✅ Yes

wa_id or phone field contains the country code


Example lookups:


Phone number

Country / Region

+91 9876543210

India

+44 7712345678

United Kingdom

+1 4155552671

United States

+971 501234567

United Arab Emirates



Edge cases & limitations

  • Global toll-free or VoIP numbers may not map cleanly to a single country.
  • Some carriers mask caller IDs, hiding the true prefix.
  • Mobile-number portability does not affect billing—WhatsApp relies on the original prefix.


If the region appears blank or incorrect, verify the raw phone number (including the leading "+") and ensure it is not toll-free or VoIP.



Summary

  • The only reliable data you get from WhatsApp about "country/region" is the phone number’s country code, which presumably reflects where the SIM was issued.
  • That can be used to infer a user's country — but it’s not a guarantee of current location or residence.
  • If you need accurate region info (for billing, language, shipping, compliance), the best approach is to ask the user directly and store it in your internal user profile/CRM.
  • Always treat inferred data carefully (with disclaimers), especially for critical decisions (shipping address, legal compliance, personalisation).



Keywords: WhatsApp region detection, country code, MSISDN, conversation billing, international pricing

Updated on: 12/01/2026