Fake Tech Accounts For 7 Percent of Global ICT Trade

Nearly one in five mobile phones shipped internationally is fake. That’s the astonishing result of a recent report on counterfeit ICT goods published by the OECD. The report estimates the value of global trade in counterfeit electronics devices to be as high as $143 billion in 2013, or roughly 7 percent of global ICT trade.

As our chart illustrates, video game consoles are the most common counterfeit ICT products accounting for a stunning 24 percent of global trade in that category. The vast majority of counterfeit tech comes from China and Hong Kong, accounting for 57 percent and 29 percent of the total value of counterfeit goods seized between 2011 and 2013. The largest target market is the United States, where more than 40 percent of the seized fake products (in terms of value) were headed to.