diff --git a/assets/js/data/cart/index.ts b/assets/js/data/cart/index.ts
index 5ddd7de7793..c072ea09578 100644
--- a/assets/js/data/cart/index.ts
+++ b/assets/js/data/cart/index.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import * as actions from './actions';
 import * as resolvers from './resolvers';
 import reducer, { State } from './reducers';
 import type { SelectFromMap, DispatchFromMap } from '../mapped-types';
-import { pushChanges } from './push-changes';
+import { pushChanges, flushChanges } from './push-changes';
 import {
 	updatePaymentMethods,
 	debouncedUpdatePaymentMethods,
@@ -34,6 +34,17 @@ const registeredStore = registerStore< State >( STORE_KEY, {
 
 registeredStore.subscribe( pushChanges );
 
+// This will skip the debounce and immediately push changes to the server when a field is blurred.
+document.body.addEventListener( 'focusout', ( event: FocusEvent ) => {
+	if (
+		event.target &&
+		event.target instanceof Element &&
+		event.target.tagName.toLowerCase() === 'input'
+	) {
+		flushChanges();
+	}
+} );
+
 // First we will run the updatePaymentMethods function without any debounce to ensure payment methods are ready as soon
 // as the cart is loaded. After that, we will unsubscribe this function and instead run the
 // debouncedUpdatePaymentMethods function on subsequent cart updates.
diff --git a/assets/js/data/cart/push-changes.ts b/assets/js/data/cart/push-changes.ts
index 06228265a8e..85373cf9e88 100644
--- a/assets/js/data/cart/push-changes.ts
+++ b/assets/js/data/cart/push-changes.ts
@@ -34,25 +34,28 @@ const isBillingAddress = (
 	return 'email' in address;
 };
 
-export const trimAddress = ( address: BillingOrShippingAddress ) => {
-	const trimmedAddress = {
-		...address,
-	};
-	Object.keys( address ).forEach( ( key ) => {
-		trimmedAddress[ key as keyof BillingOrShippingAddress ] =
-			address[ key as keyof BillingOrShippingAddress ].trim();
-	} );
-
-	trimmedAddress.postcode = trimmedAddress.postcode
-		? trimmedAddress.postcode.replace( ' ', '' ).toUpperCase()
-		: '';
-
+/**
+ * Trims and normalizes address data for comparison.
+ */
+export const normalizeAddress = ( address: BillingOrShippingAddress ) => {
+	const trimmedAddress = Object.entries( address ).reduce(
+		( acc, [ key, value ] ) => {
+			if ( key === 'postcode' ) {
+				acc[ key as keyof BillingOrShippingAddress ] = value
+					.replace( ' ', '' )
+					.toUpperCase();
+			} else {
+				acc[ key as keyof BillingOrShippingAddress ] = value.trim();
+			}
+			return acc;
+		},
+		{} as BillingOrShippingAddress
+	);
 	return trimmedAddress;
 };
 
 /**
- * Does a shallow compare of important address data to determine if the cart needs updating on the server. This takes
- * the current and previous address into account, as well as the billing email field.
+ * Does a shallow compare of all address data to determine if the cart needs updating on the server.
  */
 const isAddressDirty = < T extends CartBillingAddress | CartShippingAddress >(
 	// An object containing all previous address information
@@ -68,13 +71,12 @@ const isAddressDirty = < T extends CartBillingAddress | CartShippingAddress >(
 		return true;
 	}
 
-	return (
-		!! address.country &&
-		! isShallowEqual(
-			trimAddress( previousAddress ),
-			trimAddress( address )
-		)
+	const addressMatches = isShallowEqual(
+		normalizeAddress( previousAddress ),
+		normalizeAddress( address )
 	);
+
+	return ! addressMatches;
 };
 
 type BaseAddressKey = keyof CartBillingAddress | keyof CartShippingAddress;
@@ -239,3 +241,7 @@ export const pushChanges = (): void => {
 		updateCustomerData();
 	}
 };
+
+export const flushChanges = (): void => {
+	updateCustomerData.flush();
+};
diff --git a/src/StoreApi/Schemas/V1/AbstractAddressSchema.php b/src/StoreApi/Schemas/V1/AbstractAddressSchema.php
index 0f759762d6d..cae085878d1 100644
--- a/src/StoreApi/Schemas/V1/AbstractAddressSchema.php
+++ b/src/StoreApi/Schemas/V1/AbstractAddressSchema.php
@@ -167,15 +167,7 @@ public function validate_callback( $address, $request, $param ) {
 		$errors  = new \WP_Error();
 		$address = $this->sanitize_callback( $address, $request, $param );
 
-		if ( empty( $address['country'] ) ) {
-			$errors->add(
-				'missing_country',
-				__( 'Country is required', 'woo-gutenberg-products-block' )
-			);
-			return $errors;
-		}
-
-		if ( ! in_array( $address['country'], array_keys( wc()->countries->get_countries() ), true ) ) {
+		if ( ! empty( $address['country'] ) && ! in_array( $address['country'], array_keys( wc()->countries->get_countries() ), true ) ) {
 			$errors->add(
 				'invalid_country',
 				sprintf(