A Swedish plate won’t tell you where a car is from, but its color tells you what it is for. Here is how to read one, which taxis skip the yellow plates legally, and how to look any car up for free.
When you need this
You’re at an airport taxi rank and want to know which cars are the real thing. You’ve just picked up a rental and it looks like any private car. A car with blue, red or green plates is parked next to yours, or someone has blocked your cabin gate and you’d like to know whose car it is.
How a Swedish registration number works
Swedish numbers are national serial numbers, not addresses. County letters disappeared in 1972–73, and since then every vehicle has received a random combination that stays with it for life, through every owner and every move. Transportstyrelsen (the Swedish Transport Agency) changes a number only for exceptional reasons (synnerliga skäl). Disliking the letters is not one of them.
The ordinance allows two formats:
| Format | Example | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Three letters, three digits | ABC 123 | 1972–73 |
| Three letters, two digits, one letter | ABC 12A | 16 January 2019 |
The second format arrived because the first was running out. It added 26 million combinations, and nobody had to swap plates. The final letter is never O, which looks like zero, and the letters I, Q, V, Å, Ä and Ö are not used either. A plate ending in a letter is not foreign or fake. It’s just new.
Look closely and you’ll see more. Every plate carries the vehicle’s identification number and a two-letter make code such as VO for Volvo or TO for Toyota. The blue EU strip with an “S” on the left is on almost every plate.
Plate colors and what they mean
Transportstyrelsen’s own table sorts every plate by color:
| Plate color | Characters | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| White | Black | Ordinary vehicles, rentals and personal plates included |
| Yellow | Black | Taxi, or a provisional plate issued by the police |
| Red | White | Temporary registration: import, export, some temporary use by non-residents |
| Blue | Black | Foreign mission: embassies, consulates, international organizations |
| Green | Black | Dealer plate (saluvagnsskylt) for unregistered vehicles, trade only |
| Orange | Black | Competition plate for rally cars and enduro or trial motorcycles |
Two smaller variants exist. The short 300 × 110 mm plate (USA-skylt) is allowed only where a car’s plate recess can’t take the standard size. Snowmobiles and other terrain vehicles carry a small white sticker plate.
Four types have no EU strip: diplomatic, terrain-vehicle, temporary and provisional plates. Taxi and dealer plates do have it.
Taxis: yellow plates and the two exceptions
A vehicle notified for taxi service must carry yellow taxi plates (taxiskylt). For a visitor, that is the quickest legal-taxi check at a rank or curb: a car without yellow plates offering you a street ride is not a taxi, so there’s no meter record and no receipt to complain with. Our guide to taxis in Sweden covers prices and the driver ID.
Two details trip people up:
- Yellow is not always a taxi. When plates are lost or stolen, the police issue a provisional plate, and it is also yellow with black text.
- Not every licensed taxi has yellow plates. The same section of the ordinance exempts meter-free taxis connected to a booking center. They may only take trips booked and paid through that center, at a fixed price set before the ride. Book those through the operator’s app or phone line, never at the curb.
Older taxi plates may still have an embossed “T” after the number. Plates made since 1 April 2017 don’t. Both are valid, because the color is the marker.
Diplomatic plates: reading the code
Blue plates go to vehicles whose owners are exempt from tax under Sweden’s immunities act: embassies, consulates and international organizations. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs decides the characters and supplies the plates. Each one reads two letters, three digits and one letter.
| Part | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Two letters | The mission | AD Germany, CU Netherlands, AF United States, BM United Kingdom |
| Three digits | Serial number | — |
| Final letter | The user’s status | A head of mission, C diplomat, D administrative/technical staff, H international organization |
Transportstyrelsen publishes the full country and category list, so you can decode any blue plate you see.
Rental cars and personal plates
Rental cars wear the same white plates as private cars. Nothing on the outside shows that a car is rented. The difference is in the vehicle register: look the plate up and the status reads HYRBIL (rental car), with the rental company as owner. Note your rental’s number at pickup. For contracts and insurance, see renting a car in Sweden.
Personal plates (personlig skylt) show 2–7 letters or digits of the owner’s choosing. They can’t look like a normal or diplomatic number. The right lasts ten years and is renewable. A car with personal plates must carry an identification sticker with its ordinary number, normally on the rear right side window. Tax, inspection and insurance still run on that ordinary number.
Looking a vehicle up
Sweden’s vehicle register is open by design. Anyone can check any Swedish-registered vehicle:
- By SMS: send the registration number without spaces to 71640. The reply lists the vehicle type, make and model, color, year, status (in traffic, off the road, deregistered), any flag such as LEASING, STULET (stolen) or HYRBIL, and the owner’s name and town.
- Inspection data: send “bes.” plus the number, for example bes.ABC123, to the same number.
- On the web: Transportstyrelsen’s e-service “Fordonsuppgifter – sök med registreringsnummer” returns basic, inspection, tax and technical data.
- By phone: call 0771-14 15 16 and say ägaruppgifter to have owner, tax and inspection status read out.
Freshness note: both SMS services have been free since 27 March 2023, apart from your operator’s charges. Pages quoting a 3-kronor fee or a different number are out of date.
71640 is a Swedish short number, and it may not work from a foreign SIM. Transportstyrelsen doesn’t say either way. If it fails, the web service works from anywhere.
Military vehicles are the one blind spot. Vehicles of the Armed Forces and two defense agencies fall outside the Registration Act and the civilian register altogether.
Mistakes to avoid
- Treating a white-plated car at the curb as a taxi. Meter-free taxis are legal only when booked through their center.
- Reading every yellow plate as a taxi. A police provisional plate is yellow too.
- Expecting the plate to show the region. Numbers have been random since 1972–73.
- Adding stickers or frames to a plate. No mark may be added after manufacture, and an unreadable plate is fined. That includes winter slush.
- Driving on after losing a plate. Report it to the police and drive only the shortest suitable route to a police station for a provisional plate.
Practical information
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Plate lookup by SMS | Number without spaces to 71640; free from Transportstyrelsen, operator charges may apply |
| Inspection data by SMS | “bes.” + number to 71640 |
| Phone lookup | 0771-14 15 16, say ägaruppgifter |
| Replacement ordinary plate | 62 kr per plate (checked 2026-10-06) |
| Personal plate, 10 years | 6,900 kr; renewal 4,400 kr for 5 years or 6,900 kr for 10 (checked 2026-10-06) |
| Lost or stolen plate | Report to the police; provisional plate invoiced by Transportstyrelsen |
| Penalty for plate offenses | Fines (penningböter) for the driver, and the owner if they failed to prevent it |
FAQ
What do yellow number plates mean in Sweden?
Yellow plates with black characters mark a vehicle registered for taxi service, and checking for them is the quickest way to spot a legal taxi at a rank. Two exceptions: police-issued provisional plates are also yellow, and meter-free taxis that only take fixed-price trips booked through a booking center may run on ordinary white plates.
Why do some Swedish number plates end in a letter?
Because the old three-letters-three-digits format was running out. Since 16 January 2019 the last character may be a letter, which added 26 million combinations. Both formats are valid and nobody had to change plates. The final letter is never O, to avoid confusion with zero, nor I, Q, V, Å, Ä or Ö.
Can I find out who owns a car from its Swedish plate?
Yes. Text the registration number without spaces to 71640 and Transportstyrelsen replies with the make, color, year, status and the owner’s name and town. It is free apart from operator charges. The agency’s web e-service and phone line 0771-14 15 16 give the same kind of data. Swedish vehicle data is public by design.
Do rental cars in Sweden have special number plates?
No. Rental cars wear the same white plates as private cars, so nothing on the outside shows that a car is rented. The difference sits in the register: a lookup on the plate shows the status HYRBIL and the rental company as owner. Taxis are the only passenger cars with their own plate color.
What do blue number plates mean in Sweden?
Blue plates with black characters belong to foreign embassies, consulates and international organizations. They read two letters, three digits and one letter: the letters identify the mission, the digits are a serial number and the final letter shows the user’s status, from A for the head of mission to J for organization staff. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs issues them.
What are red number plates in Sweden?
Red plates with white text show a temporary registration, used when a vehicle is imported, exported or used temporarily by someone living abroad. The validity date is stamped on the plate, with day and month on the left and the year on the right. A “B” means the vehicle may only be used to a limited extent.
Do Swedish number plates show where a car comes from?
No. Sweden dropped county letters in 1972–73, and registration numbers have been random ever since. The number is assigned once and follows the vehicle for life, whoever owns it. The only regional hint on any plate is the “S” in the EU strip, and that only tells you the car is Swedish.
Related guides
- Taxis in Sweden: prices, apps and the driver-ID check that goes with the yellow plates
- Renting a car in Sweden: contracts and insurance for the white-plated car you’ll get
- Driving in Sweden: the road rules behind the plates
- Driving a foreign-registered car long-term: when your own plates stop being enough
- Congestion charges: cameras read your plate and send the bill
Facts verified 2026-10-06. Sources: Sveriges Riksdag (Förordning 2019:383 and Lag 2019:370 on vehicle registration, Taxitrafiklagen), Transportstyrelsen — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.