The registration number of cars in Norway is maintained by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. As in most countries, cars are identified only by number plates read visually.
The current alphanumerical system (two letters followed by five numbers) was introduced in 1971. The design of the plates remained the same until 2002, when the road authorities decided on a new font which standardized the width of each character.[1] The new design was unsuccessful due to legibility issues, for example the letters "A" and "R" were often hard to distinguish. From 2006 the font was changed again to improve legibility, and space was provided for a blue nationality stripe with a Norwegian flag.[2] From 2009, plates are made of plastic, and produced in a factory at Tønsberg.[3]
Contents |
The number plates can have one of the following designs:
For cars, lorries, buses, etc. taxed and fit to drive on public roads. Plates of this type will also carry a tax stamp; see below. Most cars in Norway have these plates.
| DA 12345 |
These are for all vehicles that are approved and deemed safe but never drive on public roads. This includes forest tractors, mining trucks, off-road snow-mobiles, various mobile gear in airports and quays, etc. Such vehicles are tax exempt and do not carry a tax stamp. Vehicles registered on Svalbard also use these plates, as all roads are privately owned.
There are also black plates with white letters intended for rally and other competition cars. The vehicle can be driven legally on the road to and from training and events if a NMF-licence and statement from the local club on training times is brought. Insurance and road tax has to be paid, but there is no import tax on new vehicles.
| ZE 12345 |
Military cars, trucks, buses, tanks etc. Such vehicles are tax-exempt and do not carry a tax stamp.
Orange plates with red print are military testing plates, with two or three letters(FMU or T-U) FMU= Forsvarsmuseet(defence museum), T-U= Test og utvikling(test and development).
| 12345 |
For cars, vans, small trucks, etc. taxed and fit to drive on public roads. Vehicles with this plate are not for passenger use. They can carry only one or two passengers and are intended for craftsmen and courier usage. Such cars have lower taxes than the same model ones with plate type A. They will also carry a tax stamp, and will never have a back seat. Anyone may own a car with green number plates.
| DA 12345 |
These are Corps Diplomatique plates; they are used on official cars of foreign embassies and consular services. These plates always use prefix CD. They are tax exempt, but do carry a tax stamp.
| CD 12345 |
Dealer plates. These plates are assigned to car dealerships and used for ferrying or test driving. They can be moved freely from car to car.
| DA 12 |
Stickers used for ferrying or testing unregistered but roadworthy vehicles, prototypes etc. Issued on day-to-day basis at a cost of NOK 225 per day. The date of issue is printed to the right of the registration number.[4]
| DA123 |
Used by military vehicles.
| DA 12345 |
A tax stamp is sent out annually by mail to every car owner who has paid the road tax, insurance and is in compliance with any MOT control. The tax stamp includes the registration number in the form of a bar code. The tax stamp changes colour each year. The palette is red - blue - yellow. A car with a number plate of a wrong colour is likely to have its number plate removed by police or customs staff.
Norwegian plates manufactured after November 1, 2006 have a nationality stripe on the left end of the plates. This stripe is blue with a Norwegian flag and the letter "N", in the style used by many central European countries before they became EU members.
A licence plate from Fredrikstad
The production of number plates is strictly controlled by the authorities. Number plates are provided when application of registration is accepted. If plates are stolen, new ones will not be produced until a police enquiry is completed. Number plates for all types except some kinds of F plates were previously produced in aluminium. As of January 1, 2009 newly produced plates are made out of plastic, which makes the plates slightly thicker than the older aluminium ones.
All Norwegian car number plates have a prefix of two letters, followed by a sequence of numbers.
Special prefixes are:
Normal number plates have a prefix based on the geographic location for the first registration, and will not be changed later. [5]
| City | County | Registration series |
|---|---|---|
| Halden | Østfold | AA AB AC |
| Sarpsborg | Østfold | AD AE |
| Fredrikstad | Østfold | AF AH AR AS AT AU AV AW |
| Mysen | Østfold | AJ AK AL AN AP |
| Moss | Østfold | AX AY AZ BA BB FN |
| Drøbak | Akershus | BC BD BE BF BH BJ BK |
| Asker and Bærum | Akershus | BL BN BP BR BS BT BU BV BX BY BZ CA CB |
| Romerike | Akershus | CC CE CF CH CJ CK CL CN CP CR CS CT CU |
| Jessheim | Akershus | CV CX CY CZ |
| Oslo | Oslo | DA DB DC DD DE DF DH DJ DK DL DN DP DR DS DT DU DV DX DY DZ EA EB EC ED EE EF EH EJ EK EN EP ER ES ET EU EV EX EY EZ FA FB FC FD FE |
| Hamar | Hedmark | FS FT FU FV FX FY FZ HA |
| Elverum | Hedmark | HB HC HD HE |
| Tynset | Hedmark | HF HH |
| Kongsvinger | Hedmark | HJ HK HL HN HP HR |
| Lillehammer | Oppland | HS HT HU HV HX |
| Otta | Oppland | HZ JA JB |
| Gjøvik | Oppland | JC JD JE JF JH JJ JK JL JN JP |
| Fagernes | Oppland | JR JS JT |
| Ringerike | Buskerud | JU JV JX JY JZ KA |
| Hallingdal | Buskerud | KB KC KD |
| Drammen | Buskerud | KE KF KH KJ KK KL KN KP KR KS |
| Kongsberg | Buskerud | KT KU KV KX KY |
| Horten | Vestfold | KZ LA LB LC LD LE |
| Tønsberg | Vestfold | LH LJ LK LL LN LP LR |
| Larvik | Vestfold | LS LT LU LV LX LZ NA NB NC |
| Sandefjord | Vestfold | LY |
| Skien | Telemark | ND NE NF NH NJ NK NL NN NP NR NT NU |
| Notodden | Telemark | NV NX NY NZ |
| Rjukan | Telemark | PA PB |
| Arendal | Aust-Agder | PC PD PE PF PH PJ PK |
| Setesdal | Aust-Agder | PL LF |
| Kristiansand | Vest-Agder | PN PP PR PS PT PU PV |
| Mandal | Vest-Agder | PX PY PZ RC RD |
| Flekkefjord | Vest-Agder | RA RB |
| Stavanger | Rogaland | RE RF RH RJ RK RL RN RP RR RS RT RU RV RX RY |
| Egersund | Rogaland | RZ SA SB |
| Haugesund | Rogaland | SC SD SE SF SH SJ SK SL |
| Bergen | Hordaland | SN SP SR ST SU SV SX SY SZ TA TB TC TD TE |
| Voss | Hordaland | TF TH TJ TK |
| Stord | Hordaland | TL TN TP TR |
| Odda | Hordaland | TS TT TU |
| Førde | Sogn og Fjordane | TV TX TY TZ |
| Nordfjordeid | Sogn og Fjordane | UA UB |
| Sogndal | Sogn og Fjordane | UC UD |
| Ålesund | Møre og Romsdal | UE UF UH UJ UK UL |
| Ørsta | Møre og Romsdal | UN UP |
| Molde | Møre og Romsdal | UR US UT UU UV |
| Kristiansund | Møre og Romsdal | UX UY UZ VA |
| Sunndalsøra | Møre og Romsdal | VB VC |
| Trondheim | Sør-Trøndelag | FP VD VE VF VH VJ VK VL VN VP VR |
| Støren | Sør-Trøndelag | VS VT VU VV |
| Orkdal | Sør-Trøndelag | VX VY VZ |
| Brekstad | Sør-Trøndelag | XA XB XC |
| Steinkjer | Nord-Trøndelag | XD XE XF XH XJ |
| Levanger | Nord-Trøndelag | XK XL |
| Stjørdal | Nord-Trøndelag | XN XP |
| Namsos | Nord-Trøndelag | XR XS XT XU |
| Mosjøen | Nordland | XV XX XY XZ |
| Mo i Rana | Nordland | YA YB YC YD |
| Bodø | Nordland | YE YF YH YJ |
| Fauske | Nordland | YK YL |
| Narvik | Nordland | YN YP YR YS |
| Svolvær | Nordland | YT YY |
| Sortland | Nordland | YU YV YX |
| Storslett | Troms | FK |
| Harstad | Troms | YZ ZA ZB |
| Tromsø including Svalbard |
Troms | ZC ZE ZH ZK ZL ZN |
| Finnsnes | Troms | ZD ZF ZJ |
| Vadsø | Finnmark | FR ZP ZR |
| Kirkenes | Finnmark | ZS |
| Alta | Finnmark | ZT ZU ZV ZY |
| Hammerfest | Finnmark | ZX |
| Lakselv | Finnmark | ZZ |
The letters G, I, M, O, Q, Æ, Ø and Å are not used due to their similarity with other letters or numbers. Additionally, the combinations "NS" and "SS" have been omitted because of their connotations to World War II.(Although SS is in use on four digit plates used for motorcycles, tractors and trailers etc.)
Most vehicles have five-digit registration numbers between 10000 and 99999. Motorcycles, farming equipment and trailers have four-digit registration numbers between 1000 and 9999 is used. Temporary plates have three-digit registration numbers between 100 and 999. Dealer plates have two-digit registration numbers between 10 and 99.
The diplomatic fleet has is identified by a code built up by CD <nn><abc> where <nn> is the country identifier as described below and <abc> is a sequence number.
| Country identifier | Country |
|---|---|
| 10 | USA |
| 11 | Argentina |
| 14 | Belgium |
| 15 | Brazil |
| 16 | United Kingdom |
| 17 | Bulgaria |
| 20 | Canada |
| 21 | Chile |
| 22 | Colombia |
| 23 | Cuba |
| 26 | Denmark |
| 28 | European Union |
| 29 | Egypt |
| 30 | Ecuador |
| 33 | Finland |
| 34 | France |
| 37 | Greece |
| 40 | India |
| 41 | Indonesia |
| 42 | Iran |
| 43 | Iceland |
| 44 | Israel |
| 45 | Italy |
| 48 | Japan |
| 52 | China |
| 53 | South Korea |
| 54 | North Korea |
| 57 | Mexico |
| 60 | Netherlands |
| 63 | Panama |
| 64 | Poland |
| 65 | Portugal |
| 68 | Romania |
| 71 | Russia |
| 72 | Spain |
| 73 | Switzerland |
| 74 | Sweden |
| 75 | South Africa |
| 76 | Thailand |
| 77 | Czech Republic |
| 78 | Turkey |
| 80 | Germany |
| 83 | Hungary |
| 86 | Venezuela |
| 89 | Austria |
Norway does not have any particular numbering scheme or plate kind to indicate vehicle usage such as police, taxi, ambulance or others, except for type E plates used by foreign diplomats.
The numbers for all plates except type C have a code consisting of two letters and a serial number. Class C only carries a sequence number. The letters identify the district in which the vehicle was first registered. For example, in Stavanger, prefixes like RE, RH and RJ are used. The car registration number is not altered when the owner moves to another town, or if it is sold.
The registration number is assigned to a vehicle's chassis number (often etched into the wall, or on a plaque inside the engine room (older cars), or on a small plate in the lower corner of the windscreen (newer cars)) when its first imported to Norway. Example; A Toyota Corolla from 1972 imported and first-time registered in Oslo would have the letters DA assigned to its chassis number (KE20-XXXXX) + the five numbers that makes the car unique. Also, registration numbers are usually assigned to groups of cars imported into Norway. Another example; If a car dealer imports 16 cars to Hamar in one shipment, the entire shipment would, as an example, be registered as FS10000, FS10001, and so on, up to FS10015. A way of seeing how old a car is from its registration number is noticing the car's age and compare it to the registration number, as a 1970-1973 model car registered in Oslo will have the DA-prefix. This is not always the cause, as it depends on when the car is imported into Norway. Oslo began in 1970 with "DA", and proceeded to "DB" around 1974, to DC in 1977, DD around 1981, DE around 1984, DF around 1987, DH in 1991, DJ around 1995, DK around 2000, DL around 2006, DN around 2008, and DL around 2010.
Before March 31, 1971 there was only one letter on Norwegian registration plates.(later style Oslo plates had two digits in place of the letter)There was mostly between 3-6 digits but one and two digit plates exist.(e.g. the Royal House still use A-1, A2 and other similar numbers, and T-1 is the first "bus" or scheduled transport vehicle in Norway, a 1907 Unic. The car still exists and resides at Romsdalsmuseet in Molde, its home town.)The one-letter plates followed the owner and not the vehicle as per today, and the registration number could be re-used. Before 1913 registration plates did not have a letter.
Vehicles older than 1971 may use one-letter plates, and if the car has been registered on two-letter plates, this may be altered once and the car can be registered on a single-letter plate of the current owners choice, although within existing letter codes and 3-6 digits. Common practice is to use the last single-letter plates on which the car was registered.
Registration letter codes anno 1913:
When a vehicle is written off, the registration number/chassis is tagged as such, and the vehicle is no longer allowed to travel by road. Neither can the registration number be reused. Example; BL50000 will always be the real-life version of the legendary "Il Tempo Gigante" from the Flåklypa Grand Prix movie. Exception is a vehicle older than 1971 that was last registered on two letter plates, which may be re-registered on one-letter plates even if the chosen registration number has been in previous use.
If a set of registration plates is stolen, the vehicle receives a new registration number.