Ask any Swede how to do almost anything official and the answer begins with the same ten digits. The Swedish personal number is the key to the bank, the doctor, the phone contract, the library card. People who have lived here for years stop noticing it. People who have just arrived notice little else.
There are two numbers, and which one you can get depends on how long you plan to stay.
What is the Swedish personal number, and who assigns it?
The personnummer is a ten-digit identity number: your date of birth, a serial number, and a control digit. The Tax Agency (Skatteverket) assigns it automatically the first time you are registered in the population register. You do not apply for it separately. You apply to be registered, and the number follows.
Registration requires that you plan to stay in Sweden for at least a year. That is why the first question for any newcomer is not "how do I get a number" but "how long am I staying". The register itself is explained in residence in Sweden for EU citizens.
What is a samordningsnummer?
The samordningsnummer, the coordination number, is the other identifier. The Tax Agency says it is for people who have never been in the population register. You can apply for it yourself if you plan to stay less than a year and can show a connection to Sweden and a need for the number: a job, studies, a company. A number can also be allocated at the request of a public authority, a university, or when you are approved for F-tax.
It identifies you for employers, universities and some other bodies, but it does not register you as living in Sweden. If you later register, it is replaced by a personnummer.
You can recognise one on sight: the number has ten digits like a personnummer, but 60 is added to the day of birth.
How do you get a personnummer step by step?
- Check your plan. A year or more in Sweden means registration.
- Notify your move online with the service Flytta till Sverige. You may file up to 14 days before moving. Each family member files separately.
- Attach your proof of right of residence (contract, evidence of business, or sufficient means and health insurance).
- Book an identity check at a statligt servicecenter after you arrive, with your original passport or ID card.
- Wait. The Tax Agency indicates about five weeks before a case officer takes the application. You then receive your number with the decision.
How do you apply for a coordination number?
- Check you qualify. You will stay under a year, you have a connection to Sweden, and you need the number.
- Apply with the e-service Coordination number or on form SKV 7540.
- Book an identity check at a service centre. The application is not complete until you attend in person. Bring a passport or national ID card.
- Wait. For an individual application the Tax Agency indicates up to five weeks before it is assigned to an officer.
The identity is stored at a level: confirmed, probable or uncertain. Only an in-person check gives you "confirmed". Special rules cover numbers issued before 1 September 2023, so if you got yours earlier, check its status with the Tax Agency.
If you are not sure whether your plan means a personnummer, a coordination number or neither, Moovy can ask a few questions about your length of stay and your job, then tell you which route applies and what to bring.
What can you do with each number?
With a personnummer you can open a bank account, order BankID, join the healthcare system as a resident, claim benefits from the Social Insurance Agency, apply to housing queues that require one, and sign up for a Swedish phone plan without hassle.
With a coordination number you can usually be paid by an employer, enrol at a university, and be identified in some services. A bank may or may not open an account on it: the Tax Agency does not decide that, each bank has its own policy. Ask yours before you rely on it.
Some online services accept a coordination number with Freja+, a private e-ID. See BankID in Sweden for what to use while you wait.
What are the common traps with the Swedish personal number?
- Thinking a coordination number is a personnummer. It identifies you but does not register you as a resident.
- Letting it lapse. After five years it is deactivated automatically. Ask for reactivation if you still need it.
- Applying for the wrong one. Over a year, register; under a year, use the coordination number.
- Planning around a tight start date. Several weeks of delay is the norm, so ask your employer to be patient, or ask the Tax Agency whether your case can run on a coordination number first.
- Forgetting that the register comes with tax. Once registered you are a resident, with the tax obligations that follow.
What changes by nationality?
EU and EEA citizens get a personnummer through registration, and a coordination number for short stays.
Nordic citizens follow the same logic, without proving a right of residence.
Swiss citizens must first obtain a residence permit from the Migration Agency to stay more than three months, which is free. After that they register and receive the number. To work before that point, the Migration Agency says a salaried worker needs a coordination number and a self-employed worker needs F-tax.
British citizens are third-country nationals since Brexit and need a residence permit, or the status from the Withdrawal Agreement, before registration and a personnummer. Read moving to Sweden from the UK.
Which documents should you bring to get a Swedish personal number?
For a personnummer, the documents are the ones that prove your right of residence, plus your identity. Bring your original passport or national ID card to the identity check, since the Tax Agency asks for copies of all the passport pages with information when you apply online and for the original in person. If you work, bring the signed contract. If you are self-employed, the proof of activity and F-skatt. If you live on your means, bring your bank statements, your pension certificate and your health insurance or S1.
For a coordination number, bring your passport or national ID card and evidence of your link with Sweden and your need for the number: an employment contract, a letter from the university, a company document. If you have a Swedish residence permit card, bring it too. If you lack a valid ID document, the Tax Agency assesses other documentation, but expect the identity level to be lower than "confirmed".
Book the appointment as soon as you can, and arrive on time. After the check, you wait for the decision. If you hear nothing after the indicated time, contact the Tax Agency. Keep copies of everything you send.
A last tip for families. Each person has their own number and their own case, so a child's personnummer comes from a separate notification. Once the parents are registered, the Social Insurance Agency contacts families with children under 16 after the registration.
Finally, remember that your number is how a Swedish bank, a landlord or a doctor identifies you, and a Swedish personal number is also what a thief wants. Share it where it is needed and nowhere else.
Where does the number show up first?
Almost at once, and in places that surprise people. A dentist will ask for it, a library, a gym, a parcel pick-up, the pharmacy when you collect a prescription. When you do not yet have a number, tell them politely; many services take a coordination number, a passport, or a manual workaround. After registration, your number appears in the Tax Agency's records and flows to the other authorities, which is why a single move notification is normally enough.
Treat the number as private. It is used for identification, so avoid posting it publicly, and never approve a BankID request you did not start yourself.