Illicit trade in fake goods is a significant and growing threat in today’s globalised and innovation-driven economy. Its harmful impact on economic growth, innovation, the rule of law and, ultimately, trust in well-functioning global markets, should not be underestimated.
In recent years, the OECD and the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have been collecting evidence on various aspects of this risk. The results have been published in a set of reports starting with Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods: Mapping the Economic Impact (2016). These results have been expanded and updated in subsequent reports, including Trends in Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods (2019) and Global Trade in Fakes: A Worrying Threat (2021). The results are a major concern, as trade in counterfeit and pirated goods amounted to up to 2.5 % of world trade in 2019; when considering only imports into the EU, fake goods amounted to up to 5.8 % of imports. These amounts are similar to those of previous years, and illicit trade in fakes remains a serious risk to modern, open and globalised economies.
This report builds on previous analysis, presenting detailed, quantitative information on the value of illicit trade in fake goods that infringe IP rights of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The effects of illicit trade in counterfeits on these companies are particularly damaging, as SMEs often lack resources to monitor and to counter this risk effectively. The evidence in this report can help raise awareness of the threat of illicit trade in counterfeits on SMEs and its implications for the design of innovation and entrepreneurship policies.
This study was carried out under the auspices of the OECD’s Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade, which focuses on evidence-based research and advanced analytics to assist policy makers in mapping and understanding the vulnerabilities exploited and created by illicit trade. This report was approved by the Public Governance Committee via written procedure on 6 January 2023 and prepared for publication by the OECD Secretariat.