Create a dynamic SELECT drop-down list (combo-box) in JavaScript

In real-time web applications, sometimes we are required to create a dynamic select drop-down list (combo box) which means the options will be loaded at run time for that combo box. This article shows you to create a drop-down list dynamically using JavaScript, HTML, and JSON. Here we will see multiple examples to dynamically populate select options in JavaScript.

Overview

To create a dynamic drop-down combo or drop-down list, let’s assume we have a dynamic JSON array that contains the country list data (code, name) as follows:

[{
	"code":"AU",
	"name":"Australia"
},{
	"code":"FR",
	"name":"France"
},{
	"code":"IN",
	"name":"India"
},{
	"code":"JP",
	"name":"Japan"
},{
	"code":"CH",
	"name":"Switzerland"
},{
	"code":"GB",
	"name":"United Kingdom"
},{
	"code":"US",
	"name":"United States"
}]

Create a dynamic drop-down list on button click in Javascript.

To create a drop-down list dynamically on button click, we will see here multiple examples based on the country data formats. For all the examples we will have the common HTML code only Javascript code will change.

HTML CODE

<button onclick="dynamicDropdownList()">Create Dynamic Dropdown List</button>	
<br><br>
<!-- container to load dynamic dropdown list -->
<div id="dropdown-container"></div>

Example-1.

Let’s assume we have country data in the form of a string array as follows:

var countries = ["Australia","France","India","Japan","United States"];

Let’s see the javascript code for this as follows:

<script>
//country data in string array format
var countries = ["Australia","France","India","Japan","United States"];

//This method calls on button click
function dynamicDropdownList(){

	var dropdown = document.createElement("select");
	for(var i=0;i<countries.length;i++){		
		var opt = document.createElement("option"); 
		opt.text = countries[i];
		opt.value = countries[i];
		dropdown.options.add(opt);		
	}
	
	//Load the dynamically created dropdown in container
	var container=document.getElementById("dropdown-container");
	container.appendChild(dropdown);
}

</script>

Example-2.

Let's assume we have country data in the form of a JSON array as follows:

var countries = [{
	"code":"AU",
	"name":"Australia"
},{
	"code":"FR",
	"name":"France"
},{
	"code":"IN",
	"name":"India"
},{
	"code":"JP",
	"name":"Japan"
},{
	"code":"CH",
	"name":"Switzerland"
},{
	"code":"GB",
	"name":"United Kingdom"
},{
	"code":"US",
	"name":"United States"
}];

Then we can write the javascript code for this as follows:

<script>
//country data in json array format
var countries = [{
	"code":"AU",
	"name":"Australia"
},{
	"code":"FR",
	"name":"France"
},{
	"code":"IN",
	"name":"India"
},{
	"code":"JP",
	"name":"Japan"
},{
	"code":"CH",
	"name":"Switzerland"
},{
	"code":"GB",
	"name":"United Kingdom"
},{
	"code":"US",
	"name":"United States"
}];

//This method calls on button click
function dynamicDropdownList(){

	var dropdown = document.createElement("select");
	for(var i=0;i<countries.length;i++){		
		var opt = document.createElement("option"); 
		opt.text = countries[i].name;
		opt.value = countries[i].code;
		dropdown.options.add(opt);		
	}
	
	//Load the dynamically created dropdown in container
	var container=document.getElementById("dropdown-container");
	container.appendChild(dropdown);
}      

</script>

Example-3.

In this example, we will take the above JSON array only, but here we will write a different javascript logic to create a dynamic drop-down list.

<script>
//country data in json array format
var countries = [{
	"code":"AU",
	"name":"Australia"
},{
	"code":"FR",
	"name":"France"
},{
	"code":"IN",
	"name":"India"
},{
	"code":"JP",
	"name":"Japan"
},{
	"code":"CH",
	"name":"Switzerland"
},{
	"code":"GB",
	"name":"United Kingdom"
},{
	"code":"US",
	"name":"United States"
}];

//This method calls on button click
function dynamicDropdownList(){
	var dropdownHTML = '<select>';
	for(var i=0;i<countries.length;i++){
		var name = countries[i].name;
		var value = countries[i].code;
		dropdownHTML+='<option value="'+value+'">'+name+'</option>';
	}
	dropdownHTML+='</select>';		
	//Load the dynamically created dropdown in container
	var container=document.getElementById("dropdown-container");
	container.innerHTML=dropdownHTML;
}      
 

</script>

Conclusion

In this article, you have seen programmatically create a dropdown list using JavaScript from the JSON data format.

FAQ

All Countries Drop Down List In Html

<!-- All countries -->
<select id="country" name="country">
    <option>country</option>
    <option value="AF">Afghanistan</option>
    <option value="AX">Aland Islands</option>
    <option value="AL">Albania</option>
    <option value="DZ">Algeria</option>
    <option value="AS">American Samoa</option>
    <option value="AD">Andorra</option>
    <option value="AO">Angola</option>
    <option value="AI">Anguilla</option>
    <option value="AQ">Antarctica</option>
    <option value="AG">Antigua and Barbuda</option>
    <option value="AR">Argentina</option>
    <option value="AM">Armenia</option>
    <option value="AW">Aruba</option>
    <option value="AU">Australia</option>
    <option value="AT">Austria</option>
    <option value="AZ">Azerbaijan</option>
    <option value="BS">Bahamas</option>
    <option value="BH">Bahrain</option>
    <option value="BD">Bangladesh</option>
    <option value="BB">Barbados</option>
    <option value="BY">Belarus</option>
    <option value="BE">Belgium</option>
    <option value="BZ">Belize</option>
    <option value="BJ">Benin</option>
    <option value="BM">Bermuda</option>
    <option value="BT">Bhutan</option>
    <option value="BO">Bolivia</option>
    <option value="BQ">Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba</option>
    <option value="BA">Bosnia and Herzegovina</option>
    <option value="BW">Botswana</option>
    <option value="BV">Bouvet Island</option>
    <option value="BR">Brazil</option>
    <option value="IO">British Indian Ocean Territory</option>
    <option value="BN">Brunei Darussalam</option>
    <option value="BG">Bulgaria</option>
    <option value="BF">Burkina Faso</option>
    <option value="BI">Burundi</option>
    <option value="KH">Cambodia</option>
    <option value="CM">Cameroon</option>
    <option value="CA">Canada</option>
    <option value="CV">Cape Verde</option>
    <option value="KY">Cayman Islands</option>
    <option value="CF">Central African Republic</option>
    <option value="TD">Chad</option>
    <option value="CL">Chile</option>
    <option value="CN">China</option>
    <option value="CX">Christmas Island</option>
    <option value="CC">Cocos (Keeling) Islands</option>
    <option value="CO">Colombia</option>
    <option value="KM">Comoros</option>
    <option value="CG">Congo</option>
    <option value="CD">Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo</option>
    <option value="CK">Cook Islands</option>
    <option value="CR">Costa Rica</option>
    <option value="CI">Cote D'Ivoire</option>
    <option value="HR">Croatia</option>
    <option value="CU">Cuba</option>
    <option value="CW">Curacao</option>
    <option value="CY">Cyprus</option>
    <option value="CZ">Czech Republic</option>
    <option value="DK">Denmark</option>
    <option value="DJ">Djibouti</option>
    <option value="DM">Dominica</option>
    <option value="DO">Dominican Republic</option>
    <option value="EC">Ecuador</option>
    <option value="EG">Egypt</option>
    <option value="SV">El Salvador</option>
    <option value="GQ">Equatorial Guinea</option>
    <option value="ER">Eritrea</option>
    <option value="EE">Estonia</option>
    <option value="ET">Ethiopia</option>
    <option value="FK">Falkland Islands (Malvinas)</option>
    <option value="FO">Faroe Islands</option>
    <option value="FJ">Fiji</option>
    <option value="FI">Finland</option>
    <option value="FR">France</option>
    <option value="GF">French Guiana</option>
    <option value="PF">French Polynesia</option>
    <option value="TF">French Southern Territories</option>
    <option value="GA">Gabon</option>
    <option value="GM">Gambia</option>
    <option value="GE">Georgia</option>
    <option value="DE">Germany</option>
    <option value="GH">Ghana</option>
    <option value="GI">Gibraltar</option>
    <option value="GR">Greece</option>
    <option value="GL">Greenland</option>
    <option value="GD">Grenada</option>
    <option value="GP">Guadeloupe</option>
    <option value="GU">Guam</option>
    <option value="GT">Guatemala</option>
    <option value="GG">Guernsey</option>
    <option value="GN">Guinea</option>
    <option value="GW">Guinea-Bissau</option>
    <option value="GY">Guyana</option>
    <option value="HT">Haiti</option>
    <option value="HM">Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands</option>
    <option value="VA">Holy See (Vatican City State)</option>
    <option value="HN">Honduras</option>
    <option value="HK">Hong Kong</option>
    <option value="HU">Hungary</option>
    <option value="IS">Iceland</option>
    <option value="IN">India</option>
    <option value="ID">Indonesia</option>
    <option value="IR">Iran, Islamic Republic of</option>
    <option value="IQ">Iraq</option>
    <option value="IE">Ireland</option>
    <option value="IM">Isle of Man</option>
    <option value="IL">Israel</option>
    <option value="IT">Italy</option>
    <option value="JM">Jamaica</option>
    <option value="JP">Japan</option>
    <option value="JE">Jersey</option>
    <option value="JO">Jordan</option>
    <option value="KZ">Kazakhstan</option>
    <option value="KE">Kenya</option>
    <option value="KI">Kiribati</option>
    <option value="KP">Korea, Democratic People's Republic of</option>
    <option value="KR">Korea, Republic of</option>
    <option value="XK">Kosovo</option>
    <option value="KW">Kuwait</option>
    <option value="KG">Kyrgyzstan</option>
    <option value="LA">Lao People's Democratic Republic</option>
    <option value="LV">Latvia</option>
    <option value="LB">Lebanon</option>
    <option value="LS">Lesotho</option>
    <option value="LR">Liberia</option>
    <option value="LY">Libyan Arab Jamahiriya</option>
    <option value="LI">Liechtenstein</option>
    <option value="LT">Lithuania</option>
    <option value="LU">Luxembourg</option>
    <option value="MO">Macao</option>
    <option value="MK">Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of</option>
    <option value="MG">Madagascar</option>
    <option value="MW">Malawi</option>
    <option value="MY">Malaysia</option>
    <option value="MV">Maldives</option>
    <option value="ML">Mali</option>
    <option value="MT">Malta</option>
    <option value="MH">Marshall Islands</option>
    <option value="MQ">Martinique</option>
    <option value="MR">Mauritania</option>
    <option value="MU">Mauritius</option>
    <option value="YT">Mayotte</option>
    <option value="MX">Mexico</option>
    <option value="FM">Micronesia, Federated States of</option>
    <option value="MD">Moldova, Republic of</option>
    <option value="MC">Monaco</option>
    <option value="MN">Mongolia</option>
    <option value="ME">Montenegro</option>
    <option value="MS">Montserrat</option>
    <option value="MA">Morocco</option>
    <option value="MZ">Mozambique</option>
    <option value="MM">Myanmar</option>
    <option value="NA">Namibia</option>
    <option value="NR">Nauru</option>
    <option value="NP">Nepal</option>
    <option value="NL">Netherlands</option>
    <option value="AN">Netherlands Antilles</option>
    <option value="NC">New Caledonia</option>
    <option value="NZ">New Zealand</option>
    <option value="NI">Nicaragua</option>
    <option value="NE">Niger</option>
    <option value="NG">Nigeria</option>
    <option value="NU">Niue</option>
    <option value="NF">Norfolk Island</option>
    <option value="MP">Northern Mariana Islands</option>
    <option value="NO">Norway</option>
    <option value="OM">Oman</option>
    <option value="PK">Pakistan</option>
    <option value="PW">Palau</option>
    <option value="PS">Palestinian Territory, Occupied</option>
    <option value="PA">Panama</option>
    <option value="PG">Papua New Guinea</option>
    <option value="PY">Paraguay</option>
    <option value="PE">Peru</option>
    <option value="PH">Philippines</option>
    <option value="PN">Pitcairn</option>
    <option value="PL">Poland</option>
    <option value="PT">Portugal</option>
    <option value="PR">Puerto Rico</option>
    <option value="QA">Qatar</option>
    <option value="RE">Reunion</option>
    <option value="RO">Romania</option>
    <option value="RU">Russian Federation</option>
    <option value="RW">Rwanda</option>
    <option value="BL">Saint Barthelemy</option>
    <option value="SH">Saint Helena</option>
    <option value="KN">Saint Kitts and Nevis</option>
    <option value="LC">Saint Lucia</option>
    <option value="MF">Saint Martin</option>
    <option value="PM">Saint Pierre and Miquelon</option>
    <option value="VC">Saint Vincent and the Grenadines</option>
    <option value="WS">Samoa</option>
    <option value="SM">San Marino</option>
    <option value="ST">Sao Tome and Principe</option>
    <option value="SA">Saudi Arabia</option>
    <option value="SN">Senegal</option>
    <option value="RS">Serbia</option>
    <option value="CS">Serbia and Montenegro</option>
    <option value="SC">Seychelles</option>
    <option value="SL">Sierra Leone</option>
    <option value="SG">Singapore</option>
    <option value="SX">Sint Maarten</option>
    <option value="SK">Slovakia</option>
    <option value="SI">Slovenia</option>
    <option value="SB">Solomon Islands</option>
    <option value="SO">Somalia</option>
    <option value="ZA">South Africa</option>
    <option value="GS">South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands</option>
    <option value="SS">South Sudan</option>
    <option value="ES">Spain</option>
    <option value="LK">Sri Lanka</option>
    <option value="SD">Sudan</option>
    <option value="SR">Suriname</option>
    <option value="SJ">Svalbard and Jan Mayen</option>
    <option value="SZ">Swaziland</option>
    <option value="SE">Sweden</option>
    <option value="CH">Switzerland</option>
    <option value="SY">Syrian Arab Republic</option>
    <option value="TW">Taiwan, Province of China</option>
    <option value="TJ">Tajikistan</option>
    <option value="TZ">Tanzania, United Republic of</option>
    <option value="TH">Thailand</option>
    <option value="TL">Timor-Leste</option>
    <option value="TG">Togo</option>
    <option value="TK">Tokelau</option>
    <option value="TO">Tonga</option>
    <option value="TT">Trinidad and Tobago</option>
    <option value="TN">Tunisia</option>
    <option value="TR">Turkey</option>
    <option value="TM">Turkmenistan</option>
    <option value="TC">Turks and Caicos Islands</option>
    <option value="TV">Tuvalu</option>
    <option value="UG">Uganda</option>
    <option value="UA">Ukraine</option>
    <option value="AE">United Arab Emirates</option>
    <option value="GB">United Kingdom</option>
    <option value="US">United States</option>
    <option value="UM">United States Minor Outlying Islands</option>
    <option value="UY">Uruguay</option>
    <option value="UZ">Uzbekistan</option>
    <option value="VU">Vanuatu</option>
    <option value="VE">Venezuela</option>
    <option value="VN">Viet Nam</option>
    <option value="VG">Virgin Islands, British</option>
    <option value="VI">Virgin Islands, U.s.</option>
    <option value="WF">Wallis and Futuna</option>
    <option value="EH">Western Sahara</option>
    <option value="YE">Yemen</option>
    <option value="ZM">Zambia</option>
    <option value="ZW">Zimbabwe</option>
</select>
Share with friends

6 thoughts on “Create a dynamic SELECT drop-down list (combo-box) in JavaScript”

  1. all the time i used to read smaller articles or reviews which also
    clear their motive, and that is also happening with this post which I
    am reading here.

  2. Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored to tears at work so I
    decided to check out your website on my iphone during lunch
    break. I love the knowledge you present here and
    can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m surprised at how quick your blog loaded on my phone ..
    I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, very good blog!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *