diff --git a/sqlalchemy_utils/types.py b/sqlalchemy_utils/types.py
index ec447b7..e7da978 100644
--- a/sqlalchemy_utils/types.py
+++ b/sqlalchemy_utils/types.py
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ class PhoneNumber(phonenumbers.phonenumber.PhoneNumber):
     def is_valid_number(self):
         return phonenumbers.is_valid_number(self._phone_number)
 
+    def __unicode__(self):
+        return self.national
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return unicode(self).encode('utf-8')
+
 
 class PhoneNumberType(types.TypeDecorator):
     """
diff --git a/tests/test_phonenumber_type.py b/tests/test_phonenumber_type.py
index 5f1587e..41bbfcd 100644
--- a/tests/test_phonenumber_type.py
+++ b/tests/test_phonenumber_type.py
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ class TestPhoneNumber(object):
         assert phone_number.international == u'+358 40 1234567'
         assert phone_number.national == u'040 1234567'
 
+    def test_phone_number_str_repr(self):
+        phone_number = PhoneNumber('+358401234567')
+        assert phone_number.__unicode__() == phone_number.national
+        assert phone_number.__str__() == phone_number.national.encode('utf-8')
+
 
 class TestPhoneNumberType(TestCase):
     def setup_method(self, method):