How to write a million, billion and trillion in numbers.
The zero counts everyone forgets, the figures written out, and what each is in lakh and crore.
Zeros and figures
| Word | Zeros | In figures | Indian |
|---|---|---|---|
| One Thousand | 3 | 1,000 | One Thousand |
| One Million | 6 | 1,000,000 | Ten Lakh |
| One Billion | 9 | 1,000,000,000 | One Hundred Crore (One Arab) |
| One Trillion | 12 | 1,000,000,000,000 | One Lakh Crore |
The quick answers
A million has six zeros, a billion has nine, and a trillion has twelve. Each step up adds three zeros, because the international system (short scale) introduces a new word every three powers of ten.
Short scale vs long scale
This uses the short scale, where a billion is 10⁹ — standard in the US and modern UK. Some European languages use the long scale, where 10⁹ is a "milliard" and "billion" means 10¹². If you've seen a billion defined differently abroad, that's the long scale; the value is the same, only the name differs. The methodology page explains why this site uses the short scale.
In Indian terms
Because lakh and crore step differently, the mapping isn't one-to-one: one million is ten lakh, one billion is one hundred crore (one arab), and one trillion is one lakh crore. For a fuller conversion see 1 million in lakhs and crores.