Issuance of the new plates started on 20 February 2012, and they introduced a fourth digit and the blue field on the left side.

[1] The international country code NMK is applied (formerly MK) on the blue field on the left side of the plate.

From 1993 to 20 February 2012, the ten existing codes were: BT, GV, KU, OH, PP, SK, SR, ST, TE, and VE.

Vehicle registration plate codes by municipalities in English alphabetical order:[4] The new europlates are criticised from several design experts and the Macedonian public who insist on using hybrid alphabet instead of Latin script (only the common letters for Cyrillic and Latin scripts to be used).

[5] Due to the Macedonia naming dispute, Greece followed a standard policy in which Greek border guards covered the letters MK on vehicle plates with a sticker, in Greek and English, reading: "Recognized by Greece as FYROM”.