You might as well make the hash values refer to an array of the data, 

# $hash{$_} = [ split '||', $hash{$_} ] for keys %hash;
$hash{$_} = [ split /\|\|/, $hash{$_} ] for keys %hash;

[download]
You can now sort the keys any way you like by 
my @by_zip = sort {$hash($a}[-1] <=> $hash{$b}[-1] } keys %hash;
my @by_age = sort {$hash($a}[0] <=> $hash{$b}[0] } keys %hash;
my @by_surname = sort {
    substr($a, rindex($a,' ')) cmp substr($b, rindex($b,' '))
} keys %hash;

[download]
Notice the difference in comparison operator between numeric and dictionary data.

Update: japhy++ is correct. Repaired without obscuring the damage.

After Compline,
Zaxo

In reply to Re: Complex hash sorting by Zaxo
in thread Complex hash sorting by Anonymous Monk

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