1.3m UK adults are living without an identity

The latest research by digital identity specialists, ID Crypt Global, reveals which global nations are home to the highest number of people living without formal proof of identity.

According to data from the World Bank, the global nation where the highest percentage of the population do not have some kind of formal ID is South Sudan where it is estimated that 86.8% of people possess no form of identification.

In Liberia, 69.9% have no ID, while in Togo and Benin, the figures are 59.7% and 53% respectively.

The UK ranks 81st on the global list, with just 2% of adult citizens possessing no form of formal ID.

This places the UK between Italy and Bolivia (2.1%) and Hong Kong and Mongolia (1.9%).

As a point of interest, the only nations where 100% of the adult population have formal ID are Uruguay and Sweden.

However, while these nation’s may be home to the highest percentage of population, ID Crypt has looked at which nation’s are home to the highest volume of people living without an identity.

ID Crypt applied the World Bank proportional data to the latest population estimates for each nation.

Their research shows that In Pakistan, just 11.7% of adults have no ID which, on a global level, is a relatively low proportion. But due to a large population of around 231.4m, it also means that an estimated 27m have no formal ID. This is more than any other nation.

In Tanzania, almost 40% of adults have no ID, which equates to an estimated 25.3m people.

And in Bangladesh, 22.6m ID-less people equates to 13.4% of the population.

Meanwhile, with 2% of UK adults not owning some form of photo ID, ID Crypt estimates that this means an estimated 1.3m people are living without an identity across the nation. This pushes the UK up to number 48 in the table where the sheer volume of citizens without an ID is concerned.

CEO and Founder of ID Crypt Global, Lauren Wilson-Smith, commented:

“Our identity and the ability to prove it are vital functions of a modern day society and identity documents enable us to carry out everything from securing a job, a place to live, a bank account and even entering a nightclub.

So it’s perhaps surprising that, unlike many other nations, the UK has no obligatory ID requirement in place for its citizens. Of course, the vast majority of us do hold some form of official identity document, but there is still an estimated two per cent of the population that do not.
While this may not sound significant, it equates to 1.3m people which is quite something in this day and age.”