A Swedish personal identity number (personnummer) is not something you apply for directly. It is assigned automatically by the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) once you are registered in the Swedish Population Register (folkbokföring), which requires an intention to live in Sweden for at least one year and a valid right to be in the country. If you stay for less than a year, you may receive a coordination number (samordningsnummer) instead.
What a Swedish personal identity number is
Everyone registered in the Swedish Population Register gets a personal identity number from Skatteverket. This identifier is used across Swedish society, both with authorities and private companies. You keep the same personal identity number for life, even if you later move abroad.
How a personnummer and a samordningsnummer are built
The standard Swedish personal identity number shows your date of birth, an individual birth number and an automatically calculated control number. The only information the digits reveal about you is your date of birth and your legal sex.
The format consists of ten digits:
- Date of birth: The first six digits follow the year-month-day order. For example, 640823 signifies someone born on 23 August 1964.
- Birth number: A three-digit sequence follows the birthdate, separated by a hyphen. The third digit indicates legal sex: odd numbers represent males, and even numbers represent females. In the year a person turns 100, the hyphen is replaced by a plus sign (+).
- Control number: A single checksum digit placed at the end.
If all birth numbers for a specific calendar date are already exhausted, Skatteverket may assign a date close to your actual date of birth instead.
A coordination number also consists of 10 digits, but 60 is added to the day of birth. For instance, a man born on 3 October 1970 has the day 03 converted to 63, yielding the format 701063-2391.
Who gets a personnummer — population registration
In most circumstances, you should be registered if you have moved to Sweden and plan to live here for one year or more, and not if you plan to stay for less than one year. The number is assigned the very first time you are entered into the register.
To qualify for registration, your right to live in Sweden must be established:
- EU/EEA citizens: You must prove a right of residence (uppehållsrätt) before you can be registered. Employed workers prove this by presenting an employment contract or an equivalent document demonstrating paid work under someone's direction. An EU citizen may stay for six months to look for work, but jobseekers normally cannot be registered while seeking employment. However, work can start before any identity number has been issued.
- Non-EU/EEA citizens and stateless individuals: You must hold and present a valid Swedish residence permit. A residence permit issued by another EU or EEA state is not sufficient. Non-EU workers need a valid residence permit, such as a Sweden work permit, before registration can proceed.
- Children born in Sweden: A newborn child gets a personal identity number if the mother is registered, or if the father is both registered and the legal guardian.
For readers who have relocated within the Nordic region, note that system setups differ; the Finnish personal identity code operates under a different set of administrative rules.
How to register your move and what happens at the service centre
When preparing for moving to Sweden, you begin by notifying Skatteverket online. You report the move using Skatteverket's 'Moving to Sweden' e-service with an eID (or the Freja app if you do not have one). You can submit this notification no earlier than 14 days before your actual move. A separate notification must be submitted for each individual person moving.
Once you arrive in the country, you and every family member moving with you must visit a state service centre (Statens servicecenter) in person to complete a physical identity check. Appointments must be booked in advance at selected service centres. You upload your passport pages and any residence permit card in advance, and you must hand over the original physical documents during your appointment.
You provide the full address where you live and sleep, including the four-digit apartment number (lägenhetsnummer). Your name must be on the door or postbox. Skatteverket does not allow "care of" (c/o) addresses for registration purposes. Parents or legal guardians submit notifications for children jointly, though young people aged 16 or older can submit their own move notification.
It takes about 5 weeks for a move to Sweden to be assigned to a case officer, and the decision arrives by post.
The samordningsnummer (coordination number) for stays under a year
A coordination number acts as an identifier for individuals who have never been entered into the Population Register. You can apply for a coordination number yourself if you stay in Sweden for less than one year and can demonstrate a connection to the country and a valid need, such as registering ownership of property.
If you plan to live in Sweden for one year or more, do not apply for a coordination number; register your move with the Population Register instead. If you already hold a coordination number and later register as a resident, it will be replaced by a personal identity number.
A coordination number can also be assigned without your personal application when you apply for F-tax (F-skatt) approval or at the formal request of a public authority, university or higher education college.
Every applicant must visit a service centre in person for an identity check before a number is issued, even when the number was requested on your behalf by an authority. You must present an original passport or national identity card, alongside any Swedish residence permit card. This mandatory in-person identity check with valid documentation has been enforced since 1 September 2023 for both newly issued numbers and reactivations. Since 3 June 2024, identity checks for coordination numbers and registration visits use digital facial comparison across 58 service centres.
Skatteverket assigns one of three identity levels to each coordination number: confirmed (styrkt), probable (sannolik) or uncertain (osäker). If you apply independently, you must prove your identity. The number remains active for about five years and is then marked inactive automatically. Reactivating an inactive number requires a fresh in-person identity check. If you move, you must report your updated contact address using the 'Coordination number' e-service, which does not require an in-person appointment.
Processing times vary: an individual application takes up to 5 weeks to reach a case officer, whereas a request submitted by a public authority takes about 2 weeks to reach a case officer, followed by up to 6 further weeks before notification.
A coordination number grants no right to residence-based welfare benefits. However, it simplifies practical administrative tasks, such as obtaining insurance for a holiday home or setting up a mobile phone or broadband contract. Skatteverket's June 2026 population report counted 477,113 active coordination numbers at the turn of the year; 45% proved their identity in 2025, against 12% in 2023.
What each number unlocks — healthcare, Försäkringskassan, bank account, e-ID
Once you are officially registered in the Population Register, you gain access to medical and dental care on exactly the same terms as other Swedish residents, paying standard out-of-pocket patient fees in the public healthcare system. The Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) warns that without registration and a personal identity number, you may have to pay for medical care yourself.
If you move with children under 16, Försäkringskassan will contact you once you are registered; if you do not have children, you must contact them yourself, for example for an EHIC or a benefit.
Logging in to 1177 requires a Swedish personal identity number and an e-ID (BankID or Freja+). You cannot log in to 1177 using a coordination number or a foreign e-ID. BankID is issued directly by commercial banks, and each bank sets its own commercial requirements for who can obtain it.
For banking, any consumer who can prove EEA residence has the legal right to a basic payment account with Swedish banks. A lack of a personal identity number is not in itself lawful grounds for a bank to refuse your application, and the institution must deliver a formal decision within 10 banking days of receiving a complete application. However, the financial supervisory authority, Finansinspektionen, notes that a bank may legally refuse an account if it cannot verify your identity, or on anti-money-laundering grounds. Opening an account helps you handle everyday expenses and plan your cost of living in Sweden.
ID cards and e-ID, and the move to the Police on 1 December 2026
To apply for a Skatteverket identity card (id-kort), you must be registered in Sweden, have a personal identity number and be at least 13 years old. The SEK 400 application fee must be paid in advance. Once approved, the physical card is normally ready for collection in about two weeks. The card is valid for five years and includes an embedded electronic ID usable across Skatteverket's online portals.
From 1 December 2026, anyone applying for a new ID card should go to the Swedish Police Authority (Polisen). Skatteverket directs non-citizens to contact the Police first, with appointment booking opening from 1 November. Unlike Skatteverket's process, the Police application fee is paid on the spot during your appointment.
A new state electronic identity, SverigeID, will launch on 1 December 2026. Registered residents who do not hold Swedish citizenship will be able to apply for SverigeID on a physical ID card issued without travel functionality. Appointments for this state e-ID can be booked with the Police by calling 114 14 from 1 November.
Changing address, moving abroad, and the identity-check law from 1 December 2026
If you are registered and move house within Sweden, you are legally obliged to notify Skatteverket within one week of the move. Providing false information or failing to report a change of address can result in fines or a prison sentence. Changing your address online via the e-service is free of charge. If you temporarily stay at another location for less than a year, you do not need to report the change.
If you plan to leave Sweden to live abroad for one year or more, you must notify Skatteverket at least one week before your departure. Following your move, your details are retained in SPAR (Statens personadressregister), the centralised address database used by banks, for five years before being removed.
Legal identity verifications will change under updated statutory rules. From 1 December 2026, anyone attending an in-person identity check for population registration must, upon request, permit Skatteverket to record their fingerprints and take a facial image. From the same date, identical biometric checks apply to coordination number identity appointments; Skatteverket will be permitted to cross-check these biometrics against Migrationsverket's registers for any individual who can be assumed to be 14 years of age or older. Additionally, a new criminal offence covering the promotion of incorrect population registration, carrying a maximum sentence of two years in prison, takes effect on 1 December 2026.
