The newest World Bank findings landed with the subtlety of an alarm bell. Nearly three billion people still move through their daily lives without any verified proof of who they are, a number so large it reads like a clerical error. The Digital Identity Report 2025, built on the ID4D Global Findex Database, lays out the issue with statistical calm, but the implications roll far beyond spreadsheets. Entire populations remain cut out from public services, financial access, and even basic participation in their own economies. The global market for digital identity verification is projected to surpass $18.2 billion by 2027, driven by a major industry shift toward reusable digital identities, according to the recently published report from Biometric Update and Goode Intelligence.
Sub-Saharan Africa shoulders most of this burden. National ID coverage has climbed from 70 percent to 80 percent since the start of the decade, a true achievement. Yet the region still finds itself far from anything resembling widespread digital identity adoption. Only about a third of adults in countries that already have digital ID systems actually possess one. And only a quarter of those who possess one use it even once. It is the bureaucratic equivalent of building a highway and then discovering no one owns a vehicle.
Women, rural populations, and individuals with low literacy face the steepest barriers. Their hurdles are not abstract. They are long distances to registration points, lack of documentation, absence of information channels, and the kind of administrative processes that test human stamina. Meanwhile, Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal press forward with ambitious programs. They have not solved the problem, but at least they have cracked the door open.
5 Key Takeaways
- Nearly three billion people remain without verified proof of identity, leaving them excluded from essential services, financial systems, and full participation in their own economies. The Digital Identity Report 2025 shows that this gap is not closing fast enough, even as the global digital identity verification market heads toward $18.2 billion by 2027.
- Sub-Saharan Africa has raised national ID coverage significantly, but digital ID adoption still lags. Only a third of adults in countries with established digital ID systems possess one, and only a quarter of those use it at least once, reflecting structural barriers tied to gender, geography, and literacy.
- Global progress remains uneven. While Turkey approaches 81 percent digital ID ownership, countries such as Bolivia sit at 5 percent. Asia-Pacific and Latin America continue advancing at a measured pace, while Europe and North America maintain a comfortable lead, creating a widening global divide.
- New use cases, from biometric boarding at airports to anti-human trafficking measures, are expanding the appeal of digital identity systems, yet public resistance persists. Protests in the U.K. reveal ongoing fears of surveillance and misuse, demonstrating that trust is still the decisive factor for adoption.
- China’s biometric-driven border and authentication initiatives show how rapidly digital ID programs can grow when political will is absolute. Meanwhile, The RegTech stresses that without verified identity, digital government reforms stall. Reliable identity verification now sits at the center of revenue collection, border management, public benefits, and digital service delivery, making recognition a prerequisite for progress.
Digital Identity Report 2025: Uneven Speeds
Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific and Latin America keep moving steadily, adjusting policies, building authentication systems, and hoping political will does not wobble midway. Europe and North America, for their part, sit comfortably at the front of the pack, with Turkey posting an eye-widening 81 percent digital ID ownership rate, while Bolivia, on the same chart, sits at 5 percent. The global gap resembles a seesaw with one child glued to the ground and the other staring at the sky.
The World Bank recommends that countries start with birth registration and then move upward through the life cycle of citizens. It is a practical approach, and one that the United Nations Development Programme has been pushing through its Resilience Hub as well. Trust remains the cornerstone. Registration systems can be built; databases can be funded; technology can be adopted. But if people believe the system is a surveillance trap, the enrolment line will remain empty.
New Use Cases and Public Pushback
Countries searching for ways to push adoption forward have turned to new use cases. Airports are the flamboyant early adopters, bringing biometrics to boarding gates as though they were auditioning for a science fiction film. Travelers pass through without paper documents, reducing delays that used to test the patience of even the calmest souls. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has championed a different angle, arguing that digital identity can disrupt human trafficking networks. Its investigators believe that tighter verification makes it harder for traffickers to move victims unnoticed.
Yet the enthusiasm is not universal. In the U.K., thousands marched in the streets to protest national digital identity plans, fearful that government would collect every crumb of data it could find and do who-knows-what with it. The tension is straightforward: people want convenience and safety, but they also want privacy and autonomy. Governments have repeatedly struggled to offer the former without threatening the latter.
Digital Identity Report 2025: China’s Stride Toward Biometric Borders
Then there is China, which does not bother with half-measures. Authorities have already deployed biometric-based customs clearance at major ports. The process, dubbed “face swiping,” promises faster clearance between Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, Xiamen Gaoqi Airport, Guangzhou Pazhou, and Nansha are already running the new system. At the Shenzhen border points, residents above the age of 14 who hold valid travel permits can step into biometric lanes and complete the entire process with fingerprints, iris scans, and facial recognition.
The system is not limited to aviation. Ports, land crossings, and even event venues are preparing for biometric clearance. Hong Kong plans to use it for the National Games, letting athletes walk through immigration in an eye-blink. The Director of Immigration describes a seven-second clearance process. Anyone who has stood in a two-hour airport queue will interpret that statement as something bordering on utopian.
China’s broader push into digital identity has deep roots. In 2023, it tested a blockchain-based public key infrastructure to prevent data leaks. After the trial succeeded, the government launched RealDID, a national-scale authentication platform offering both identification and encrypted data vouchers. Private tech companies followed by developing digital identity solutions for students and teachers, expanding testing grounds across schools and administrative centers. China seems determined to show the world how fast such systems can be deployed when political will sits at full volume. And privacy? Well, that is a completely different story.
Without Identity, Progress Stalls
At The RegTech, we watch these developments closely. Countries are racing to digitize fiscal processes and public services, but without verified identity the whole effort becomes a house with no door. With billions still lacking identification, global inequality risks deepening, not through lack of funds or lack of innovation, but through lack of recognition. A citizen who cannot prove they exist might as well not exist within their own government’s records.
This is why we emphasize the need for identity verification in every conversation we have with policymakers. It is not about chasing trends or adopting fashionable technologies. It is about giving governments the tools to function reliably and citizens the ability to participate fully. Digital identity is now intertwined with revenue collection, social protection, border management, trade facilitation, and even education. When a state does not know who its people are, it loses sight of both its obligations and its opportunities.
Global progress is uneven, but the direction is clear. The Digital Identity Report 2025 shows that countries are experimenting, testing, and learning. Some are sprinting. Others are taking hesitant first steps. The disparity is sharp, yet it also signals extraordinary potential for improvement.
Billions still wait for the day they can hold a digital credential that proves who they are. We see that day not as an abstract milestone but as a target that must be reached with persistence and clarity. And, if the numbers in this report tell us anything, it is that the global identity crisis is not a distant problem. It is here, pressing on governments from every direction. And as more countries push into digital services, the need for reliable digital identity grows louder. The question is not whether nations should move. They already are. The question is whether they can move fast enough for the three billion people still standing outside the system, waiting for recognition.
We are here to help governments, financial institutions, and businesses to effectively comply with growing regulatory requirements through technology.
