For the purposes of directing mail, Sweden is divided into a number of postcode areas. The Swedish postcode () system is administered by PostNord Sverige (formerly ) on behalf of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority ().Vad används postnumren till?, Post- och telestyrelsen. (Swedish)
History Until 1968, mail in Sweden was sorted only according to geographic location, which meant that postal workers had to learn all mail centers in Sweden, and what particular mail trains served those places. In 1967, it was decided that postcodes would be introduced in Sweden as of May 12, 1968. Since then, the postcode system has been essentially the same, but a slight reform was carried out during the mid-1990s as all remaining mail terminals were equipped with automatic mail sorting machines. In 2008, Sweden was divided into more than 16,100 postcode areas.Postnummersystemet i Sverige, Post- och telestyrelsen. (Swedish)
Format The Swedish postcode system is based on a five-digit number combination, divided into two groups of three and two digits. The principle of numbering is that the lower the postcode, the further south the place is located. Excluded from the principle are postcodes beginning with number 1, which represent the capital city, Stockholm. Mail delivery centers are divided into two-, three-, and five-digit positioning groups depending on the size of the geographical place. The two-position group has larger varieties, whereas the smallest belongs to the five-digit positioning group.
According to the system, a space shall be inserted between the third and fourth digit. Earlier recommendations said that a double space should be placed between the postcode and the geographic location and that the geographic location should be written in capital letters. A single space is now the norm and capital letters are not required anymore.
A typical address would look like this:
Sven Nilsson (First, and last name) Roslagsgatan 10 (Street, and number) 113 51 Stockholm (Postcode, and geographic location)
Two-digit positioning
The two initial digits indicate city. Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö are designated the two-digit series, one for mailbox- and business addresses, and the second series for street addresses.
The post codes are sorted by geographical location. Numbers starting with 10-19 are part of Stockholm; otherwise, the lower numbers are part of the bigger city areas in the south, and increase northwards.
First digit Region Cities with their own second digit 1 Stockholm County with the exception of Norrtälje Municipality Stockholm (10–11 and some smaller isolated ranges) 2 Skåne County and parts of Kronoberg County and Blekinge County Malmö (20–21), Lund (22), Helsingborg (25) 3 Parts of Jönköping County, Kronoberg County, Kalmar County, Blekinge County and Halland County Halmstad (30), Växjö (35), Kalmar (39) 4 Parts of Västra Götaland County and Halland County Gothenburg (40–41) 5 Parts of Östergötland County, Jönköping County, Kalmar County and Västra Götaland County Borås (50), Jönköping (55), Linköping (58) 6 Södermanland County, Gotland County, Värmland County and parts of Östergötland County, Västra Götaland County and Örebro County Norrköping (60), Eskilstuna (63), Karlstad (65) 7 Southern and middle Uppsala County, Västmanland County, Dalarna County and parts of Stockholm County and Örebro County Örebro (70), Västerås (72), Uppsala (75) 8 Northern Uppsala County, Gävleborg County, Västernorrland County and Jämtland County Gävle (80), Sundsvall (85) 9 Västerbotten County and Norrbotten County Umeå (90), Luleå (97)
Postcode Geographic location Notes 10x xx Stockholm Mailbox and business addresses 11x xx Stockholm Street addresses 20x xx Malmö Mailbox- and business addresses 21x xx Malmö Street addresses 22x xx Lund 25x xx Helsingborg 30x xx Halmstad 35x xx Växjö 39x xx Kalmar 40x xx Gothenburg Mailbox- and business addresses 41x xx Gothenburg Street addresses 50x xx Borås 55x xx Jönköping 58x xx Linköping 60x xx Norrköping 63x xx Eskilstuna 65x xx Karlstad 70x xx Örebro 72x xx Västerås 75x xx Uppsala 80x xx Gävle 85x xx Sundsvall 90x xx Umeå 97x xx Luleå Changed from 951 xx
The third digit in the two-digit positioning indicate type of delivery, in most cases.
Postcode Type of delivery Note xx0 xx Mail boxes and mail addresses xx1 xx Mail boxes and business addresses xx2 xx Regular mail delivery xx3 xx Regular mail delivery xx4 xx Regular mail delivery xx5 xx Countryside mail delivery xx6 xx Regular mail delivery xx7 xx Regular mail delivery xx8 xx Regular reply mail xx9 xx Temporary Temporary postcodes
The fourth and fifth digit indicate the geographic area. Postcodes with the same first four digits may represent a part of a city or equivalent.
Three-digit positioning
The first two digits indicate the geographical area in. Previously, these figures indicated the mail terminal that sorted mail for the particular geographic location.
Postal code Approximate geographical area 10x xx - 11x xx Norrmalm, Östermalm, Västermalm, Södermalm 12x xx Skarpnäck, Farsta, Enskede-Årsta-Vantör, Älvsjö, Hägersten-Liljeholmen, Skärholmen 13x xx Nacka, Värmdö, Tyresö, Haninge 14x xx Huddinge, Botkyrka, Salem, Nynäshamn 15x xx Södertälje, Nykvarn 16x xx Bromma, Hässelby-Vällingby, Spånga, Kista 17x xx Ekerö, Järfälla, Sundbyberg, Solna 18x xx Lidingö, Danderyd, Täby, Vallentuna, Österåker, Waxholm 19x xx Sollentuna, Upplands-Väsby, Sigtuna, Upplands-Bro 23x xx South-western Skåne County 24x xx Central Skåne County 26x xx North-western Skåne County 27x xx South-eastern Skåne County 28x xx Northern Skåne County and south-western Kronoberg County 29x xx North-eastern Skåne County and western Blekinge County 31x xx Southern Halland County 33x xx Western Jönköping County 34x xx Western Kronoberg County 36x xx Eastern Kronoberg County 37x xx Middle and eastern Blekinge County 38x xx Southern Kalmar County 42x xx - 47x xx Northern Halland County and western Västra Götaland County 51x xx Southern Västra Götaland County 52x xx - 54x xx Eastern Västra Götaland County 56x xx - 57x xx Northern Jönköping County and middle Kalmar County 59x xx Southern Östergötland County and northern Kalmar County 61x xx Northern Östergötland County and southern Södermanland County 62x xx Gotland County 64x xx Northern Södermanland County 66x xx - 68x xx Värmland County and northern Västra Götaland County 69x xx Southern Örebro County 71x xx Northern Örebro County 73x xx Västmanland County 74x xx Middle and southern Uppsala County 76x xx Norrtälje Municipality 77x xx Southern Dalarna County 78x xx Central and western Dalarna County 79x xx Northern Dalarna County 81x xx Southern Gävleborg County and northern Uppsala County 82x xx Northern Gävleborg County 83x xx Northern Jämtland County 84x xx Southern Jämtland County and south-western Västernorrland County 86x xx South-eastern Västernorrland County 87x xx Middle Västernorrland County 88x xx North-western Västernorrland County 89x xx North-eastern Västernorrland County 91x xx Southern Västerbotten County 92x xx Middle Västerbotten County 93x xx North-eastern Västerbotten County and South-western Norrbotten County 94x xx Southern Norrbotten County 95x xx Middle Norrbotten County 96x xx South-eastern Norrbotten County 98x xx Northern Norrbotten County
The third figure in combination with the first two indicates the mail delivery location. The fourth figure is the type of delivery.
Postcode Type of delivery xxx 0x Mailboxes- and postal addresses xxx 1x Mailboxes, business addresses xxx 2x Regular mail delivery, mailboxes, and reply mail xxx 3x Regular mail delivery xxx 4x Regular mail delivery xxx 5x Regular mail delivery xxx 6x Regular mail delivery xxx 7x Regular mail delivery xxx 8x Reply mail, and business addresses xxx 9x Countryside mail delivery
Five-digit positioning
Five-digit positioning is used for locations small enough that only one or a few postal codes are required for routing. Since the reform of the postcode system in the mid-1990s, only a few five-digit positions locations remain. These locations are often so small and remote that it is not practically possible to transfer all mail to a larger three-digit locations. Five-digit position locations are usually in the archipelago and in the mountains.
References Swedish Postal Act, No. 1684 of December 22, 1993.
Postcode directories with external links The last printed postcode directory was published by the Swedish Mail Service in 1996. Postcodes may be searched on the Mail Service's website here (invalid). Statistics Sweden has a detailed table of postcode, region, municipality and city here (invalid). Postcode look-up and calculation of distances / radius between postcodes in Sweden.