Danish civil registration number (CPR number)

A Danish civil registration number is used to identify you when you are in contact with the Danish authorities, as well as in many situations with private actors such as banks, employers or insurance companies.

The civil registration number is associated with the Central Person Register, usually abbreviated ‘CPR’. The CPR contains basic information about people who live or have lived in Denmark.

If you become registered in the CPR as resident in Denmark, you will be given a Danish civil registration number. Registration of residence is also called civil registration.

When can you receive a Danish civil registration number?

You will be issued with a Danish civil registration number once your municipality of residence has assessed that you meet the requirements to be registered in the CPR as resident in Denmark.

Children born in Denmark to a mother who is already registered in the CPR are automatically assigned a Danish civil registration number and registered in the CPR.

If you do not need to be registered as a resident in the CPR, you can be issued with an administrative civil registration number. This applies, for example, if you need a Danish civil registration number for:

• Tax payment (issued by SKAT – the Tax Agency)
• Inclusion in ATP (issued by ATP – the Danish Labour Market Supplementary Pension Fund)
• Registration in the church register, e.g. at birth or upon baptism into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark (issued by the parish)
• Obtaining a special residence permit (issued by the Danish Agency for the Labour Market and Recruitment)
• Registration of diplomats in the Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Section 47(1) of the Aliens Act (assigned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

You cannot receive a Danish civil registration number solely for the purpose of opening a bank account in Denmark, or solely because you are a Danish citizen.

If you need to work or pay tax in Denmark, but do not need to be registered in the CPR as a resident, you may need a personal tax number.

A personal tax number is a Danish civil registration number that the Danish Tax Agency issues for tax purposes. If you later move to Denmark and become registered in the CPR as a resident, you will generally retain the civil registration number you have already been given.

If you are a foreign employee and get a job in Denmark, you will usually need a digital tax card and personal tax number if you do not already have a Danish civil registration number.

If your child was born abroad and lives abroad, the child is not entitled to receive a Danish civil registration number solely because the child is a Danish citizen.

Your child will only receive a Danish civil registration number when he or she moves to Denmark and meets the requirements to be registered as a resident, or to have a civil registration number issued by another authority.

If your child is baptised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, the parish will assign the child an administrative civil registration number. If the child later moves to Denmark, the child will be registered with this civil registration number.

A child may be issued with a Danish passport without having a Danish civil registration number.

In special situations, you can obtain a new civil registration number. This might for example be the case if there are errors in your current civil registration number, or if your civil registration number is being misused in connection with identity theft.

You can also be issued with a new civil registration number in connection with legal gender reassignment.

A Danish civil registration number consists of ten digits. The first six digits normally show the person’s date of birth, while the last four digits are a serial number.

• 1st-2nd position indicates the person’s birth date.
• 3rd-4th position indicate the person’s month of birth.
• 5th-6th position indicate the person’s year of birth, without the century.
• 7th-10th position is a serial number.

The combination of the 5th, 6th and 7th digits shows which century the person was born in. The final digit indicates the person’s registered gender in the Central Person Register. Even numbers are used for women, and odd numbers for men.