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Personal identity numbers

Everyone who is registered in the Swedish Population Register receives a personal identity number as an identifier. You will receive your personal identity number from the Swedish Tax Agency.

Personal identity number

Once you have obtained a personal identity number you will keep the same number for the rest of your life. That means your personal identity number will not change if, say, you move abroad.

In certain cases you may obtain a personal identity number even if you have not been registered in the Swedish Population Register. This applies if you have diplomatic immunity and you stay in Sweden for at least one year − for example, if you are employed at foreign embassy or certain international organisations. In such cases, personal identity numbers are assigned at the request of the Swedish Government Offices.

A video about personal identity numbers

What is a personal identification number? It is an identifier that among other things show when you were born. Learn more about how it is constructed and what it is used for.

How is a personal identity number used?

You use your personal identity number when you communicate with government authorities and private companies, as this number is your identifier in Sweden.

The Swedish Tax Agency has a government mandate to provide current and correct information about the people who live in Sweden so that other authorities have the information they need for planning and decision-making. This is done through the Population Register providing information about you to other authorities. They receive correct information about you when changes are made in the Population Register − for example, if you report a change of address. Private companies can have their customer registers updated via the Swedish personal address register (SPAR).

The structure of a personal identity number

Your personal identity number indicates your birthdate, your birth number and, lastly, a control number. The only information that can be obtained from your personal identity number is your birthdate and sex. Your sex is indicated by the second-last number of your personal identity number.

Birthdate

Your birthdate is shown as six digits. The internal order of the digits is birth year, month and day.

Example

Someone with the birthdate 640823 was born on 23 August 1964.

Birth number

Your birth number consists of three digits. The last number will be an odd number if your legal sex is male, but an even number if your legal sex is female. Between the birthdate and the birth number is a hyphen (-), which is replaced by a plus sign (+) in the year the person becomes 100 years old.

The number of birth numbers is limited. It is therefore possible that all the birth numbers for a certain date have been used up. In such a case you may then receive a personal identity number in which the numbers for your birth date show a date that is close to your true birthdate.

The control digit

The last digit of your personal identity number is a control number. It is calculated automatically on the basis of your birthdate and birth number.

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Personal identity numbers