The number of digital identity apps in use will exceed 6.2 billion in 2025, from just over one billion in 2020.

Juniper Research stated that civic identity apps, where government-issued identities are held in an app, will account for almost 90 per cent of digital identity apps installed globally in 2025 – driven by the increasing use of civic identity in emerging markets and the lasting impact of the pandemic.

The report suggested that an unprecedented shift to digital services during the crisis across the world will stimulate rapid growth in civic identity - growing by 467 per cent between 2020 and 2025 - as robust onboarding and verification for digital services become vital.

Civic identity apps will overtake the number of digital identity cards in use in 2023, with the number of apps in use 41 per cent higher than cards by 2025. While digital identity cards are still growing, the research stated that apps are much easier to scale, and better support increased involvement in digital commerce, which will be critical to digital identity’s future use.

Research co-author Nick Maynard explained: “Civic identity apps have come into their own as a way to boost digital financial participation, particularly in emerging economies.

“Post-pandemic, this capability will be crucial in enabling increased digital engagement.”

Juniper Research stated that distributed ledger technologies will be important to the future of digital identity, with blockchain-based third-party digital identity apps accounting for 16 per cent of all installed third-party identity apps in 2025.

However, this is not necessarily a self-sovereign model, where numerous parties such as banks, identity providers and mobile network operators work together to provide identity as a part of a wider network. Blockchain will be an effective way to secure federated access to data, injecting trust and transparency, the report concluded.

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