EORI numbers: what they are, who needs one and how to apply

What is an EORI number?

EORI stands for Economic Operator Registration and Identification and is a unique registration number to be used in all customs-related commercial activity within the EU. Swedish Customs assigns the number in Sweden, and it is registered at the same time in the EU’s central EORI database. The requirement sits in the Union Customs Code, Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

Each company gets only one EORI number, and the same number is used in all EU member states. A Swedish company importing via Rotterdam or exporting from Hamburg therefore uses its Swedish EORI number there.

Swedish Customs uses the number to tie every declaration, permit and control to the right company. Forwarders, customs brokers and customers outside the EU will ask for it in almost every shipment.

Who needs an EORI number?

Every company doing business with countries outside the EU needs an EORI number. According to Swedish Customs, it is required among other things when a company established in the EU

• is the consignee, declarant or representative in an import declaration from a country outside the EU
• is the exporter, declarant or representative in an export declaration to a country outside the EU
• lodges an entry or exit summary declaration
• is the carrier in an export or transit declaration
• uses digital border crossing for exports to Norway
• is the holder of a transit procedure
• operates a temporary storage facility
• applies for a customs authorisation.

Sole traders count as companies. If you import or export in the business, you need an EORI number, and your personal identity number then forms the basis of the number.

The rule applies however often you trade. A single import of a machine from Norway or a one-off export to the UK requires an EORI number just as much as a daily flow. Read about what applies to your first import declaration in Sweden.

Do private individuals need an EORI number?

No, usually not for imports. According to Swedish Customs, a private individual importing goods for private use normally needs no EORI number. The import declaration instead states the code PRIVA, meaning a natural person without an EORI number, together with the personal identity number. If you order a parcel from the USA or bring home a car for your own use, that is the code that applies.

For exports, it is different in practice. The rules allow a private individual to export without an EORI number, with the personal identity number preceded by SE and the code PRIVA in the declaration. But Swedish Customs’ e-service for export declarations requires an EORI number and an authorisation applied for by companies, so a private individual cannot lodge the export declaration themselves. Private individuals’ export declarations are therefore lodged through a representative, such as EasyTull. If you want to declare the export yourself, you first need an EORI number, and Swedish Customs assigns one even to private individuals resident in Sweden.

Two exceptions exist for imports as well. If a private individual imports more than 50 tonnes of goods covered by CBAM, the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism, during a calendar year, the same requirement as for companies applies. The same goes for customs activities involving goods under the F-gas Regulation (EU) 2024/573 on fluorinated greenhouse gases.

What does a Swedish EORI number look like?

A Swedish EORI number consists of the country code SE followed by 10 digits, for example SE1234567890. For limited companies and other businesses, the digits are usually the organisation number without the hyphen. For sole traders, it is the personal identity number.

Companies established outside the EU that get their EORI number in Sweden receive a number beginning with 444 or 502 after the country code, depending on whether the company was VAT-registered in Sweden when the application was made.

The EORI number is often confused with the VAT registration number. They are built on the same organisation number but look different.

If you write the VAT number in the EORI field, with 01 at the end, the declaration is rejected. It is one of the most common errors we correct in invoices and freight bookings. Unsure about a number? Check EORI numbers, VAT numbers and Norwegian organisation numbers in our tool.

How to apply for an EORI number

The application is made in Swedish Customs’ e-service “Ansök om Eori-nummer” and takes a few minutes. This is how it works.

1. Log in with BankID. Swedish applicants must identify themselves with e-identification and be at least 16 years old. Foreign applicants need no e-identification; Swedish Customs performs other checks instead.
2. Enter the organisation number or personal identity number. The company’s 10-digit organisation number, or the 12-digit personal identity number for a sole trader. Name and address are fetched automatically from the company and population registers.
3. Fill in contact details and choose whether the number should be published. If you choose Publish, the company’s name and address are shown when someone checks the number. Otherwise only the number’s validity is shown.
4. Attach a certificate of registration if required. Limited companies, partnerships, limited partnerships and sole traders do not need to attach anything. Non-profit associations, religious communities, foundations and funds must attach a certificate of registration.
5. Submit and wait for the email. You get a case number immediately and the EORI number by email, in most cases within an hour.

A customs broker can apply on your behalf. The broker must then hold a power of attorney from you drawn up before the application, and be able to show it if Swedish Customs asks. That is how we do it for new customers: you send the invoice for your first shipment, we apply for the EORI number and lodge the declaration as soon as the number arrives.

What does it cost and how long does it take?

An EORI number is entirely free of charge, both to apply for and to hold. There is no annual fee and no expiry date.

Most applications are processed automatically within an hour. Applications that must be handled manually take longer, up to five working days according to the e-service’s help pages. That mainly concerns foreign companies, associations and cases where the details cannot be fetched automatically.

So plan the application before the goods are on their way. If the truck is at the border and the EORI number is missing, the processing time decides how long it stays there.

Foreign companies and branches

A company established in another EU country applies for its EORI number in its own country and uses that number in Sweden too. Sweden does not assign EORI numbers to EU companies that are merely VAT-registered here. Nor does VAT registration in Sweden confer establishment status in the EU.

A company established outside the EU applies in the EU country where its first customs activity takes place. If the first declaration is to be lodged in Sweden, Swedish Customs assigns the number. That requires a certificate of registration plus a transport document, invoice or similar showing that the first customs activity actually takes place in Sweden. If the company has already applied for or received an EORI number in another EU country, the application is refused.

A company outside the EU cannot be the declarant or exporter in a Swedish customs declaration. That is solved through an indirect representative who lodges the declaration in its own name on the company’s behalf. EasyTull takes that role for foreign customers. Read more about how we work as a customs broker.

Branches get no EORI number of their own, as they are not separate legal persons. Swedish branches, whose organisation numbers begin with 5164, are instead linked to the parent company’s EORI number. The link is requested from Swedish Customs via eori@tullverket.se.

Norwegian companies and EORI numbers

EORI numbers are not used in Norway. There, companies are identified by their organisasjonsnummer or bedriftsnummer with Norwegian Customs. A Norwegian company that only imports from or exports to the EU therefore needs no EORI number, since it is the EU importer or EU exporter who exchanges information with customs in the EU.

Norwegian companies do, however, need an EORI number when they themselves communicate with the EU’s customs systems. That applies above all to Norwegian carriers pre-notifying goods to the EU’s safety and security zone through ICS2, where the requirement for road and rail has applied in full since 1 September 2025. Norwegian Customs often refers Norwegian operators to Swedish Customs for the application.

Norwegian companies also hold a special position in Sweden. Swedish Customs exempts Norwegian operators from the establishment requirement, so a Norwegian company can be the declarant in a Swedish customs declaration because Norway borders the EU customs territory. The number they receive begins with 444 or 502 depending on Swedish VAT registration. We handle both sides of the border in the same case, see the guide on exporting to Norway and the guide on importing from Norway.

Trade with the United Kingdom

Since Brexit, the United Kingdom has its own EORI system. According to HMRC, companies moving goods between the UK and other countries, including the EU, may need a British EORI number. Your British customer thus needs their own number for the import on their side, and you need your Swedish one for the export declaration on yours. Read about what decides your customer’s duty in the guide on exporting to the UK.

Check whether an EORI number is valid

You check an EORI number in the European Commission’s validation service. Enter SE followed by the organisation or personal identity number. If the holder has chosen to publish their details, name and address are shown, otherwise only that the number is valid.

The check is worth doing in three situations: when you have received an EORI number from a new customer or supplier outside Sweden, when a declaration has been rejected with an error code about the declarant, and when you are unsure whether your own company already has a number. If the company already has a valid number, a message says so when you try to apply again.

What happens if the EORI number is missing?

Swedish Customs charges no fee if an EORI number is missing at a customs activity. The only requirement is that an application is submitted. The cost arises instead in the waiting: the declaration cannot be lodged until the number exists, and goods standing at a terminal or at the border cost storage and delays by the day.

For exports, the rules contain two exceptions. Private individuals exporting for private use state the code PRIVA and their personal identity number, in practice through a representative since Swedish Customs’ e-service requires an EORI number. Persons outside the EU who occasionally re-export goods after temporary admission or inward processing state the code TILFA instead of an EORI number. Otherwise, the exporter must be established in the EU, and the declarant in the EU or Norway.

Five common EORI mistakes

1. The VAT number in the EORI field. SE556016060501 is a VAT number, SE5560160605 is the EORI number. With 01 at the end, the declaration is rejected.
2. Applying in the wrong country. EU companies applying in Sweden instead of their country of establishment are refused. Companies outside the EU that already hold a number in another EU country are refused as well.
3. The branch applies on its own. Branches with organisation numbers beginning 5164 cannot get a number of their own. The parent company’s number must be used and linked.
4. Applying when the truck is already at the border. Most get the number within an hour, but manual processing can take up to five days.
5. Two numbers for the same company. Each operator may hold only one EORI number. A company that has changed name or address needs no new number, as the details are updated automatically.

Change, link or close an EORI number

If your company changes name or address, you need to do nothing. Swedish Customs receives the details automatically from the Companies Registration Office and the Tax Agency. The VAT registration number is also linked automatically to the EORI number through a transfer from the Tax Agency.

Companies outside the EU must, however, email changed details to tullverket@tullverket.se themselves. The same address is used when a company wants to close its EORI number. The details are kept for ten years after deregistration.

To change whether your company’s name and address are shown at a check, email eori@tullverket.se.

Sources: Swedish Customs: Eori · Swedish Customs: help for the Eori application · Swedish Customs: exceptions from the EORI rule at export · Swedish Customs: declaration guidance for export · European Commission: EORI · Norwegian Customs: EORI numbers and Norwegian operators · Swedish Tax Agency: VAT registration numbers · HMRC: Get an EORI number. Page updated September 2026.