ISLAMABAD: Approximately 31.9 million births of children registered at respective union councils are yet to be recorded into National Database and Registration Authority’s (Nadra’s) central system.

According to annual performance report recently submitted by Nadra to the Ministry of Interior, a total of 227 million individuals are registered with Nadra.

Overall, nearly 97pc of the country’s population is now included in the registration system. Among registered individuals, 48 per cent are women and 52pc are men. The report revealed several important and interesting insights about the state of registration in the country.

As for biometric data, Nadra’s system currently holds facial records of 170 million people, iris data of 7 million individuals and 1.68 billion fingerprints. During 2025 alone, 445 million biometric verifications were conducted, supporting government transparency and strengthening the digital system. Significant growth in registration was also observed.

Around 52pc of 227m individuals registered with the authority are male, 48pc female

National registration increased by 4pc, registration of children under 18 grew by 11pc, renewal of expired ID cards rose by 24pc and the cancellation of ID cards following death registration increased by an impressive 900pc.

Female registration also saw an 8pc increase, marking a positive development. By the end of the year, 938 Nadra registration centres were operational nationwide. A total of 75 new registration centres were established, along with 138 new counters. An additional 126 counters were added to existing offices.

Under mobile services, 231 mobile registration vans were active, including 33 equipped with satellite units to provide services in remote areas.

A total of 100 main peak teams and biker teams were also deployed in the field. At union council levels, 62 counters were operational, and 6 new counters were established in five countries abroad.

Nadra has made 98pc of transactions cashless and its call centres were further modernised to improve the people’s experience.

Digital facilities and overseas facilitation channels were also expanded for Pakistanis living abroad. Digital services saw significant progress, with the Pak Identity Mobile App handling 15pc of Nadra’s total workload, meaning 15pc of users benefited from Nadra’s services without visiting a centre.

The app’s downloads have exceeded 12 million. In 2025, the federal government approved the National Registration and Biometric Policy Framework, further strengthening a unified registration and biometric system in the country. Amendments were made to the National Identity Card regulations, biometric child registration certificates were introduced for children as young as three, and family registration certificates were given formal legal status.

According to the report, the country’s identity system now has near-complete coverage, though efforts are still required to further improve the registration of women and young children in certain areas. Clear policy recommendations have been proposed to close the remaining gaps.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2026