The figure represents a 17% increase on the 3 427 468 smart IDs issued in 2024, which was itself a record at the time. Compared to 2023 and 2022, the department delivered around 1.3 million more smart IDs in 2025, signalling a sustained acceleration in rollout capacity. Home Affairs attributes the milestone to its ongoing digital transformation programme, aimed at delivering services through what it terms “Home Affairs @ home”. ADVERTISEMENTTechnology upgrades drive higher Smart ID outputAccording to the department, improvements at both Home Affairs offices and the Government Printing Works (GPW), which produces the physical smart ID cards, have been central to the increase. He added that smart IDs offer significantly stronger protection than the older green bar-coded ID book.