How to find your pension insurance number: FOCUS Online shows what you need to know about the pension insurance number – and what the digits mean.
You can find the pension insurance number (RVNR) in your social security card. It consists of eleven digits and one letter and contains, among other things, the date of birth of the insured person. The number, which never changes throughout your life, certifies that you belong to the pension insurance system. Those who were born before 2005 usually received their RVNR when they first started work that is subject to social security contributions. Since 2005, every German citizen has automatically received a pension insurance number at birth.
Your pension insurance number is on your social security card, right under your personal information such as your name or date of birth. For example, you must provide them when you accept a new job.
Attention: The pension insurance number is not identical to the health insurance or other identification numbers such as the tax identification number.
If necessary, you can request the insurance number directly from the pension insurance agency or from the health insurance company. The documents can be requested on the homepage of the German pension insurance. For data protection reasons, however, the documents are usually only sent by post.
The eleven digits and the letter of the pension insurance number may appear arbitrary at first glance. But the series actually has a system:
02 German Pension Insurance North (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
03 German Pension Insurance Central Germany (Thuringia)
04 German Pension Insurance Berlin-Brandenburg (Brandenburg)
08 German Pension Insurance Central Germany (Saxony-Anhalt)
09 German Pension Insurance Central Germany (Saxony)
10 German Pension Insurance Braunschweig-Hannover (Hanover)
11 German Pension Insurance Westphalia
12 German Pension Insurance Hesse
13 German Pension Insurance Rhineland (Rhine Province)
14 German Pension Insurance Bavaria South (Upper Bavaria)
15 German Pension Insurance Bavaria South (Lower Bavaria-Upper Palatinate)
16 German pension insurance Rhineland-Palatinate
17 German pension insurance Saarland
18 German Pension Insurance North Bavaria (Upper and Middle Franconia)
19 German Pension Insurance North (Hamburg)
20 German Pension Insurance North Bavaria (Lower Franconia)
21 German Pension Insurance Swabia
23 German Pension Insurance Baden-Württemberg (Württemberg)
24 German Pension Insurance Baden-Württemberg (Baden)
25 German Pension Insurance Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin)
26 German Pension Insurance North (Schleswig-Holstein)
28 German pension insurance Oldenburg-Bremen
29 German Pension Insurance Braunschweig-Hannover (Brunswick)
38 German pension insurance Knappschaft-Bahn-See (railway sector)
39 German pension insurance Knappschaft-Bahn-See (seafaring sector)
40 Central allowance office for old-age assets
42 to 79 Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund (The area numbers correspond to the area numbers of the area of the regional carrier plus 40)
80 German pension insurance Knappschaft-Bahn-See (Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein)
81 German pension insurance Knappschaft-Bahn-See (Hesse and Rhine province)
82 German pension insurance Knappschaft-Bahn-See (Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland)
89 German pension insurance Knappschaft-Bahn-See (Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia)
The FOCUS Online guide answers all important questions about pensions on 135 pages. Plus 65 pages of forms.
The pension insurance number is only changed in exceptional cases:
If a person accidentally got several insurance numbers, all but one will be decommissioned.
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Any employment that is subject to social insurance contributions requires the provision of the pension insurance number so that the new employer can register with the social insurance institutions. You will also need your pension insurance number for many other processes related to social security or German pension insurance. For example, if you want to register as unemployed. When applying for partial retirement, a disability pension or a survivor’s pension, you also need the insurance number.
The pension insurance number is one of the three most important, lifelong identification numbers of a German citizen, along with the health insurance number and the tax identification number.