Ethiopia Issues More Than 1.2 Million Passports in Nine Months, Majority New E-Passports

Mintesinot Nigussie

The Ethiopian Immigration and Citizenship Service has issued more than 1.2 million passports in the past nine months. The majority of these are the newly introduced electronic passports as the country modernises its travel documentation system.

Ambo Mekasa, communications director at the service, said over 800,000 of the issued passports were e-passports. These new documents include advanced security features such as embedded chips, fingerprint data, and facial recognition technology.

The e-passports come with a 10-year validity period, longer than previous versions. This upgrade is part of broader efforts to digitise identity and improve border management systems.

The high issuance volume reflects growing demand for travel documents and the successful rollout of the new electronic system across the country.

The Immigration and Citizenship Service continues to expand digital platforms for passport and visa services to improve processing efficiency.

This achievement marks a significant step in Ethiopia’s efforts to modernise its identity and travel documentation infrastructure.