Counterfeit goods accounted for an estimated $467 billion in global trade in 2021, the latest year with available comprehensive data, says a joint study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), an EU agency based in Alicante, Spain.
The authors of “Mapping Global Trade in Fakes 2025: Global Trends and Enforcement Challenges” note that clothing, footwear, and leather goods remain atop the list, accounting for 62% of seized counterfeit goods. The report also underlined the emergence of new and sometimes hazardous segments, such as automotive parts, medicines, cosmetics, toys, and food.
“Illicit trade threatens public safety, undermines intellectual property rights, and hampers economic growth, and the risks could increase as counterfeiters leverage new technologies and techniques to avoid detection,” said OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann.
More recent national data for the US confirms the trend. According to US Customs and Border Protection, the total number of goods seized at the US borders for intellectual property rights violations more than doubled from 2020 to 2024, and the total manufacturer’s suggested retail price of these goods increased by 415%.
The OECD/EUIPO report describes increasingly sophisticated assembly, logistics, and distribution methods. Counterfeiters are adopting “localization” strategies to place final assembly closer to target markets, using international waterways such as the Danube River. With their reduced oversight, free trade zones “play a pivotal role in this trend,” the authors added.
Product diversification runs hand-in-hand with greater reliance on e-commerce for distribution. Designed to combat the illicit trade in pharmaceuticals, vaccines, medical devices, and everyday consumer products that pose risks to health and safety, the World Customs Organization’s Operation Stop III, conducted last December by 111 customs administrations, found that 71% of cases involved parcels ordered over the internet, “confirming how easily unsafe goods bypass normal import checks,” said David Gammill, founder of Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, a California-based law firm.
China leads the production rankings, accounting for 45% of all reported seizures in 2021. Additional major players hail from elsewhere in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
