Home AHV / AVS number Switzerland
Switzerland AHV / AVS number validator
How the AHV / AVS number format works
- Format
- 13 digits starting with 756 (EAN-13 mod-10 check digit)
- Example
- 7561234567897
Things to watch for
- Usually written with dots as 756.XXXX.XXXX.XX, but only the 13 digits matter for this check
- Format + EAN-13 mod-10 checksum only — a pass doesn't confirm the number is actually issued to someone by the ZAS
- Every Swiss social security number starts with the 756 country prefix, same digit scheme GS1 uses for barcodes
^756[0-9]{10}$The Swiss AHV/AVS number (Sozialversicherungsnummer, or numéro AVS) is the identifier every person registered in Switzerland’s old-age and survivors’ insurance system carries — employers, pension funds, health insurers, and banks all rely on it. It’s 13 digits, always starting with 756, and ending in a check digit — for example 7561234567897. It’s commonly written with dots as 756.1234.5678.97 for readability, though only the 13 digits themselves matter for a validity check.
What makes the AHV number distinctive is where its check digit comes from. Rather than a bespoke government formula, it’s the EAN-13/GS1 weighted mod-10 checksum — literally the same check-digit math printed under the barcode on a supermarket product. Switzerland adopted this exact scheme in 2008, when the current 13-digit AHV/AVS number replaced the country’s older social security numbering system.
How this validator works
This tool checks that the input is 13 digits, that it starts with the 756 country prefix, and that the final digit satisfies the EAN-13/GS1 mod-10 checksum — entirely in your browser, with nothing sent to a server and no signup required.
What a pass doesn’t tell you
A pass confirms the number is correctly shaped and mathematically well-formed — not that it was actually issued to a real person by the Zentrale Ausgleichsstelle (ZAS), or that the holder’s social security coverage is currently active. A fabricated 13-digit string starting with 756 can satisfy the checksum without ever having been assigned to anyone.
Scope: this page and tool cover AHV/AVS format and EAN-13 checksum validation only — not confirming ZAS issuance or active insurance status.
Content last reviewed 2026-07-22.
AHV / AVS number FAQ
What do the first three digits of a Swiss AHV number mean?
They're always 756 — Switzerland's own country prefix, in the same digit scheme GS1 uses for barcode numbering. Every valid AHV/AVS number starts this way; anything else fails the format check immediately.
Why does this checker use math that looks like a barcode formula?
Because that's genuinely what Switzerland uses. When the AHV number was redesigned in 2008, authorities adopted the existing EAN-13/GS1 weighted mod-10 check digit rather than inventing a new one — the same calculation already used to validate product barcodes.
Does a passing check confirm my AHV number is genuinely issued by the ZAS?
No. It confirms the 13 digits are correctly formed and the check digit is mathematically valid — not that the number was actually assigned to a specific person by the Zentrale Ausgleichsstelle, or that social security coverage under it is currently active.