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.

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 having entered into the country from abroad.

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

If you do not need to be registered as a resident in the CPR, you will in some situations be issued with a so-called administrative civil registration number. An administrative civil registration number is assigned because the authorities will for example need it in connection with:

• Inclusion in ATP
• Tax proceedings in this country
• An ecclesiastical act, e.g. a baptism.

An administrative personal number can also be assigned in other situations, for example in connection with the granting of certain residence permits and in connection with the registration of foreign diplomats in the Protocol of 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 work or pay tax in Denmark, but are not required to be registered in the CPR as a resident, for example because you live abroad, you will be assigned an administrative civil registration number on the basis of tax proceedings in this country.

If you later move to Denmark and become registered in the CPR as a resident, you will retain the civil registration number you have already been assigned.

If you are a foreign employee and obtain work in Denmark, you will usually need a digital tax card.

If your child was born abroad and lives abroad, the child will not be assigned a Danish civil registration number solely because he or she is a Danish citizen.

The child will only receive a Danish civil registration number when the child moves to Denmark and meets the requirements to be registered in the CPR as entered into the country, or if the child is issued with a civil registration number by a Danish authority in another context.

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 remain 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 show the person’s date of birth, while the last four digits are a serial number.

• The 1st-2nd position indicates the person’s birthdate
• The 3rd-4th position indicates the person’s month of birth
• The 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.