The personal identity code

The personal identity code is necessary to apply for pensions and other benefits, among other things. It is also needed for the payment of salaries and wages to ensure that the money is paid to the correct person.

A responsible use of the personal identity code reduces the possibility of errors in registers and, thus, improves the protection of the individual’s privacy. 

The personal identity code or a combination of the personal identity code and the name may not be used as the only means of identifying a person, but other personal data is also needed for reliable identification (Section 29(5) of the Data Protection Act (1050/2018)). 

The personal identity code indicates the person's date of birth and the gender as recorded in the Population Information System.  

The personal identity code does not contain any other personal data, such as the person’s nationality, municipality of residence or right of residence in Finland. You cannot prove your identity only by stating your personal identity code.

Anna Suomalainen’s personal identity code is 131052-308T. The first part – 131052 – tells us the day, month and year of her birth, in the form ddmmyy. Thus, her date of birth is 13 October -52.

The separator after the date of birth tells us the century in which she was born. In Anna’s case, the sign is a hyphen (-), which means she was born in the 1900s, i.e., 1952. For people born in the 19th century, the separator is a plus sign (+), for people born in the 20th century, a hyphen (-) or the letter Y, and for those born in the 21st century, the letter A. In the future, other separators can also be introduced to ensure there are enough personal identity codes (see section 2 of the Decree on the Population Information System, in Finnish).

The individual number, which for Anna is 308, distinguishes between persons with the same date of birth. Men have an odd number and women an even number. In practice, all individual numbers issued are between 002 and 899.

The control character is a number or a letter and the final character in a personal identity code. It is established by dividing the nine-digit number consisting of a person’s date of birth and individual number by 31.

The control character is determined on the basis of the remainder according to the table to the left:

Remainder = control character

30 = Y

When calculating the remainder which is equal to the personal identity code’s control character with a calculator and when the result is a decimal number, the remainder is established as follows: the decimals following the whole number are multiplied by 31 and the resulting number is rounded to the nearest whole number according to the following example.

Anna Suomalainen’s personal identity code is 131052-308T. The T is derived by taking the number 131052308 and dividing it by 31. The result of the division, depending on the precision of the calculator, may appear as 4227493.8064516129032258064516129.

When the series of numbers following the full number 0.8064516129032258064516129 is multiplied by 31 the result is 24.9999999999999999999999999. This is rounded to the closest full number, which in this case is 25. The control character for 25 is T.

If a child is born at home or in a place other than a healthcare unit, but with the assistance of a doctor, midwife, public health nurse, nurse or other healthcare professional, this healthcare professional must then notify the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of the birth of a live child.

The notification is submitted with the Notification of Birth to the Population Information System form. The notification is filled in and sent to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency no later than the day after the birth or no later than a day after the healthcare unit or healthcare professional has been notified of the birth. If the healthcare unit has permission to submit information on the birth electronically, the paper form is generally not used. Forms are available at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

If a child is born without the assistance of a healthcare professional, the mother or custodian  of the child must notify a healthcare unit or healthcare professional of the birth, and these instances must then notify the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of the birth. Forms are available at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.