PURPOSE: To allow this bar code reader to ecomonically correspond to a change in the sort of a bar code and to easily extend a memory.

CONSTITUTION: The bar code reader consists of a counting control part 23 for counting up the widths of bars and that of spaces and outputting a binary count value and a signal indicating a bar or a space, a bar code identification part 25 for detecting a center bar during the detection of a margin and identifying bar code data, a decoder 26 for outputting character data and a parity signal, a label analyzing part 27 for judging a code sort and rearranging the code based up on a bar code identification(ID) result by the ID part 25 and the parity signal obtained from the decoder 26 and analyzing the bar code data, a storage part 28 for storing the analyzed result and character data, and a microprocessor 29 for executing data processing to output the bar code data to the external.