New (?) 50 Fast-Track

Saw it on BBC London news but found the story here:

LINK

Edited to shorten link - honey lamb

[Darren Wheeler]

'"only 19 million Britons currently have biometric passports'

Out of a population of about 61 million

quote:Originally posted by Darren Wheeler
'only 19 million Britons currently have biometric passports'

Out of a population of about 61 million, that's hardly on 'only'.


I thought that too, considering it has only been going since March 2006, and a passport last for 10 years! Pretty good going!

quote:Originally posted by Darren Wheeler
'only 19 million Britons currently have biometric passports'

Out of a population of about 61 million, that's hardly on 'only'.


I wonder how many British citizens don't have a passport ...

This appears to be a state secret now. When passports were issued by UKPA, their last available figures a few years ago made it about 71%

However since UKPS became BIA then UKIS, and the handling of passports was devolved to that well known Executive Agency of the Home Office, IPS, the figures are not published

(I'm just jealous as I haven't got the contract to reprint their stationery and business cards - otherwise I'd be rich!)

Just over 5.25 MILLION passports are issued each year

see the 2008/09 annial report of the IPS = pages 4, 5

http://www.ips.gov.uk/cps/files/ips/liv ... Access.pdf

So assuming 5 million issued per year with a 10 year validity = 50 million

Population of UK just over 60 million so approx 83% of population have a passport.

Not a totally accurate figure but I recon a good approximation.

( A couple of years ago I heard a figure of 50 million current US passports out of a population of 250+ million)

Tonty

I don't agree with your logic. However, the US State department issued
16,208 MILLION passports in 2008.

See

http://travel.state.gov/passport/servic ... s_890.html

Your logic says that since Passports last 10 year,s that 162 Million US citizens have a passport. Then there's the issue of Passport cards. So out of 250 Million US citizens, 64% have a valid passport.

It's amazing what you can do with statistics

Tonty

Reading your link, I think you've misquoted it

The number you quote for passports issued 'each year' is not actually each year. That's what was issued in 2008.

Same 'fault' as my US argument -

And no, under the new quasi whatever body they are, there's no published answer any more to how many UK citizens have a passport

Indeed there is Pete but it was just an approximation.

The 50 million US passports figure was from a few years ago and there have been recent changes in the US requiring e.g. people to have passports for visiting Canada and Mexico where in the past a driving licence etc would do

The figs in your link show a huge jump from 2004 onwards when 8.8 were issued.

So we have both over estimated the numbers but we are probbaly in the ball park.

In any case does it really matter?

With regard to the US:

See here for on interesting stat.

See here for another.

So, between 20m and 60m US citizens have a passport ... and it is well known that 90% (ick) of Americans never leave their country.

It wouldn't surpise me if the UK figure was 60-70% people who have a passport, given that many young 'uns have yet to get one, there are probably some who never will, a significant underclass of people who don't want one and older people who have let their lapse ...

As for the UK statistics, the number per year could be swollen by the need for biometrics, immigrations, people who renew less than the 10 year duration, lost passports ... etc. I'd hazard therefore that multiplying the number per year in one year by ten is unscientific.

[honey lamb]

There is also a group of people who have been obliged to get passports but have no notion of ever using them for foreign travel given the rules the LCCs (and may other airlines) use for ID. A case in point is an elderly lady in Belfast who does not drive and therefore needs a passport to visit her sister in Manchester! And I need one to fly between Cork and Dublin [:0]

Is that 50 a go[:I] may be they would charge a monthly fee[:?].