Half the world’s population will have chip-based national electronic identity (eID) cards by 2018

An identity analyst firm, Acuity Market Intelligence, forecasts that in five years’ time, half of the world’s population will have a chip-based national eID card, including near-complete regional coverage in Europe.

Asia, with its vast population, is expected to dominate the market accounting for more than 60% of all national eID cards issued between 2014 and 2018.

Acuity’s report, entitled The Global National eID Industry Report: 2014 Edition, projects that nearly 3.4 billion national eID cards will be issued over the next five years, doubling global national eID card circulation from 1.75 billion to 3.5 billion by 2018.

According to Acuity principal and biometrics and secure document market expert, Maxine Most, “In addition to the 3.4 billion chip-based national eIDs issued between 2014 and 2018, another 300 million national ID cards will integrate biometrics into non chip-based card programs.”

“Recent national ID news from across the globe validates Acuity’s growth projections,” said Most. “India and the Philippines are reviving efforts to introduce National eID cards to support their national identity programs. Turkey has announced the integration of biometrics into their national eID card scheme. South Korea is facing intense pressure to replace their national ID system due to rampant data breaches and fraud. And Nigeria appears to be making progress on their national eID program after years of promise and false starts.”

“The Global National eID Industry Report: 2014 Edition” includes more than 350 charts and tables providing comprehensive, detailed country-by-country, regional, and global unit and revenue forecasts and analysis for all national eID cards programs.