The United Kingdom’s digital identity sector has grown to an estimated 275 firms generating about two billion pounds in annual revenue, according to a new government analysis, which also finds that most UK residents have now used a digital identity service at least once.
The Digital Identity Sectoral Analysis Report 2026, published by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes, updates a baseline study from May 2025 and tracks how the market changed over the year. It estimates 275 firms are providing digital identity products and services, a net increase of nine, and puts the sector’s revenue at 2,027 million pounds across 2024 and 2025. Gross value added, a measure of the economic value a sector contributes, reached 1,037 million pounds, up 17 percent from the baseline, which the report reads as a sign of improving productivity even as employment fell about 6 percent to roughly 9,600 full-time equivalents amid consolidation and wider tech-sector pressures.
OfDIA is the government body that oversees the sector through the Digital Verification Services trust framework, the scheme under which identity providers are certified against agreed standards, and it recently published a pre-release of version 1.0 of that framework. Consumer adoption is climbing alongside the rules: 77 percent of the 5,658 residents surveyed said they had used a digital identity service for at least one purpose, most often for insurance, credit applications, and opening a bank account. Understanding is rising too, with 81 percent reporting some grasp of digital identity, up from 71 percent at the baseline.
Among the roughly one in four residents who have not used such a service, the most common reasons were a preference for physical identity documents and simply not having needed to prove identity, though a lack of a digital option and missing documents also featured. Financial and professional services remain the core market, while healthcare and public services rose sharply as customers, and the framework is beginning to reach everyday transactions, including a government move to let certified digital verification services handle alcohol age checks. The consumer survey was carried out by Survation, with the analysis conducted independently by Perspective Economics.
Sources: GOV.UK
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
