World Number Plates

Number Plates of Sweden

Continent: Europe

Capital: Stockholm

Population: 9 million

Country ISO code: SE

Country OVAL code: S

Driving Side: Right

First license issued in 1911

Number of vehicles:
cars 3,600,500 (1990), trucks and buses 324,100 (1990)

Road information:
total: 210,402 km; paved: 166,523 km (including 1,499 km of expressways); unpaved: 45,879 km (2000)

Swedish number plates consist of three letters followed by three numerical digits, and have no connection with the geographic location of the issuing authority. Each of the letters in the Swedish alphabet are used, with the exception of I, Q, V, Å, Ä and Ö.

A number of letter combinations have been banned from use on Swedish car registrations due to potentially offensive combinations being formed. Some examples include APA (monkey), FUL (ugly), GAY, HOT (threat), SAP (Sweden's Social Democratic Party), SEX, TOA (toilet), USA, and many hundreds more.

Personalised number plates are permitted in Sweden and can use almost any unique letter and number combination with up to seven characters. Personalised number plates cost 6000kr (£450) to register and are valid for ten years. However, the plates may not be transferred to another vehicle. One personal number plate which was banned in Sweden was 64SALE ('6' is written out as 'sex' in Swedish).

Swedish number plates have used the blue EU stripe since 2002, but its usage is still optional in the country.

Car registrations in Sweden require an 'approval sticker' to be placed in the centre of the number plate in order to give the driver permission to operate the vehicle. The sticker is sent to the vehicle's owner when the tax and liability insurance are fully paid and the vehicle has passed an inspection. Approval stickers are valid for one year, with the colour of the sticker varying from year to year.