Global ID Coverage, Barriers, and Use by the Numbers: Insights from the ID4D-Findex Survey

Trusted and inclusive identification (ID) systems can serve as a powerful tool for development, accelerating progress in number of areas, such as women’s empowerment and gender equality, financial inclusion, and health. Moreover, “legal identity for all, including birth registration” is one of the 169 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and ID and civil registration systems are increasingly seen as critical for realizing the SDG’s principle of ‘leaving no one behind’. Yet, many people worldwide are unable to prove their identity, and many ID systems lack the features and qualities that would enable them to deliver on their promise for development. To better understand the nature of the ‘global identification challenge’, the World Bank’s Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative partnered with the Global Findex team to gather survey data across 97 countries about ID coverage, barriers to obtaining one, and their use (e.g. for accessing government or financial services). This is the first time nationally representative data have been collected for such a large number of countries, offering unique insights. Read more here.