Maldives digital ID launch aims to supercharge economy

The island nation of the Maldives is set to start issuing digital IDs to its 530,000 citizens in 2026 as it seeks to boost its digital economy.

Announcing the move, the Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, Ali Ihusaan, said that the smart ID card will offer citizens access to dozens of public services. The government has been working on consolidating disparate systems operated by separate agencies into a unified platform to ease access in the digital age.

The minister revealed that the government has already enrolled 272,000 citizens aged 10 and above onto the new digital ID system, accounting for 80% of the eligible population. Now, all that remains is the issuance of the smart ID card.

The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia and the region’s second-least populous. Its $7 billion economy relies predominantly on tourism, attracting about two million visitors last year. Its digital economy is still in its nascent stage, but the government has a stated goal of boosting the sector to account for at least 15% of the gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the decade. It’s part of a bigger plan to transition the country into a developed nation status by 2040.

The Maldives already has a headstart in digital ID issuance. The country has had an electronic ID system, dubbed eFaas, that has been active for over a decade. eFaas even offers biometric identification, with Latvian ID solutions company Regula Forensics taking over from Sumsub as the biometric tech partner a year ago.

Last year, legislators passed the Digital Identity Bill, establishing a digital ID system for the country and paving the way for the smart ID card.

According to the minister, the new card will offer access to 17 government agencies under the OneGov platform, enhancing access and boosting efficiency.

The Maldives joins neighboring Sri Lanka in making digitalization a core pillar of their economic growth strategies. The South Asian nation recently received a $50 million grant from the World Bank to boost its digital transformation, with a government cloud platform and an online citizen portal among the key targets.

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