Traficom is responsible for the registration of vehicles in Finland and the manufacture of all official registration plates. Currently, a total of 28 different types of plates (External link) are manufactured, in addition to which you may spot some older types of plates while in traffic. The vehicles that are owned by the Finnish Defence Forces and vehicles that have been registered to the Åland Islands have their own plates.
All vehicles are automatically issued EU registration plates and receive the next available registration number. Upon request, you can apply for a special registration plate with the registration number of your choice for your vehicle. You can also submit a request to use the older type of registration plate instead of EU plates on your vehicle. To exchange your EU plates for the older type of plate, visit an inspection site that provides registration services.
If a long registration plate does not fit in your vehicle, this needs to be confirmed at an inspection site and entered in the vehicle's technical data. When this information has been entered in the Transport Register, a small registration plate with white background can be ordered for the vehicle at an inspection site that provides registration services.
Depending on the vehicle class of your vehicle, it will have either one or two plates. If necessary, you can apply for an additional plate for your vehicle if for example you use a bicycle transportation rack that covers the vehicle’s own plate.
For more information on registration plates: