Digital ID Platforms to be used by 5bn people in 2024

A new report from Juniper Research found that the number of people using government-issued digital identity credentials will grow by over 150% from an expected 1.7 billion in 2019 to over 5 billion in 2024. Emerging economies in Asia and Africa are some of the biggest markets, as countries leapfrog analogue identities to benefit from the efficiencies digital registration and management bring.

The report, Digital Identity: Technology Evolution, Regulatory Analysis & Forecasts 2019-2024, shows that those countries unencumbered by legacy systems are following Estonia’s lead of rapid digital identity development. For example, we expect almost 12 million people in Malawi to have digital identities in 2022, with Nigeria and other countries supplying digital identity to over 420 million people on the continent on both cards and apps.

Governments typically provided such cards, which many people in more developed countries have previously rejected. Juniper Research anticipates that markets across Europe and North America will be led by the financial services sector and digital driving licences, rather than formal government identification.