Smithers reports rise in counterfeiting
The Smithers report says that in 2025, the total global value for tracking, tamper-evidence and product authentication will reach USD four-billion.
23 Apr 2025 | 424 Views | By Prabhat Prakash
The demand for brand protection packaging features has grown by 5.4% CAGR since 2021, and will have a value of USD four-billion in 2025. A new market report from Smithers – The Future of Anti-Counterfeiting, Brand Protection and Security Packaging to 2030 – tracks how this market will expand across the next five years, at a 4.7 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), to notch up USD five-billion in 2030.
Anti-counterfeiting and brand protection in packaging is based around four concepts. Track-and-trace technologies have the largest share of the market (44.6% of global value in 2025); followed by tamper-evident (30.4%); product authentication (23%); and anti-theft (2%).
The strongest expansion in the market over the next five years will come from track-and-trace technologies. Leveraging advances in RFID chips, smart devices, artificial intelligence, and blockchain software, it will grow at an 8.2% CAGR, raising its market share to 52.6% in 2030.
Cases of food fraud have risen tenfold in the past four years, threatening consumer safety and trust in businesses involved in production, distribution and retail. This helps make food the largest end-use segment in the anti-counterfeiting market in 2025, with 37% of the global value.
Industrial goods are the second largest product group, more than 26% of global value in 2025. Use of security packaging technologies is heavily biased towards higher-value and safety-critical components, including electrical and electronic equipment, and automotive and aviation parts.
Other consumer packaged goods account for 14% of the market. In this sector, certain luxury brand owners are now linking security features to online digital product passports (DPPs) for individual products, adding a further level of protection and reassurance for customers.
Pharmaceuticals represent 6% of the market. The sector makes extensive use of tamper-evidence closures and traceability codes, which are increasingly becoming mandatory in supply chains. Security solutions for pharma packaging are consequently forecast to have the fastest growth across the remainder of the decade.
As it evolves, the brand protection packaging market will face other challenges. These include how to interface with the latest digital technologies in supply chains and how to incorporate sustainable security packaging fixtures that enhance recyclability.