Market figures need a year and a defined scope. A report published in 2025 is not necessarily a measurement of the counterfeit market in 2025.
The published estimate
The OECD and EUIPO's 2025 report estimates international trade in counterfeit goods at approximately USD 467 billion in 2021, corresponding to 2.3% of global imports. These figures describe the report's trade estimate, not a measured loss for an individual brand. Read the OECD announcement.
Use the full report when you need its methodology or category-level findings. Do not turn an aggregate trade share into a claim that the same percentage of your products is counterfeit.
What your own pilot needs to measure
A global estimate does not predict the return on a particular NFC project. Start with a process where your team already handles exceptions: returns, distributor checks, service intake or a high-value product line.
Record the current volume of cases, time spent reviewing each case and what evidence staff can access. These establish a baseline for comparison after introducing a product identifier and verification workflow.
| Measure | What to record |
|---|---|
| Reading success | Successful page openings for the phones and labels tested |
| Verification results | Valid, invalid, blocked and unreadable outcomes separately |
| Review effort | Time and steps needed to resolve an exception |
| Customer interaction | Form submissions or other defined actions |
| Integration effort | Work needed to connect product and order data |
| Operating cost | Labels, application, software, support and exception handling |
Keep technical signals separate from conclusions
An invalid response may indicate copied data, an incorrect setup or another failed check. An unusual scan location can have an ordinary explanation. Neither is automatically a confirmed counterfeit incident.
Hashentic supports secure-tag verification and a fraud-alert review process. Review the signals and related records before deciding how to respond. See analytics and fraud investigation.
For an initial test, use one product line, a documented acceptance checklist and a defined review period. The NFC pilot checklist explains how to prepare samples and evaluate results. Contact the team to map that test to your process.
