In 2025, total global value for tracking, tamper-evidence and product authentication will reach $4 billion, according to the latest research from market analyst Smithers.
Demand was seen to be rising in response to changing retail patterns, as well as increasingly sophisticated counterfeiting operations.
The new report – titled 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, to reach $5 billion in 2030 (at constant 2024 pricing).
Anti-counterfeiting and brand protection in packaging is based around four main 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, AI and blockchain software, it will grow at an 8.2 per cent CAGR – raising its market share to 52.6 per cent in 2030.
According to Smithers, 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 per cent of the global value. Industrial goods are the second largest product group (over 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 per cent of the market. In this sector, certain luxury brand owners are now linking security features to online digital product passports for individual products, adding a further level of protection and reassurance for customers.
Pharmaceuticals represent six per cent 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.
The Future of Anti-Counterfeiting, Brand Protection and Security Packaging to 2030 is available to purchase now from the Smithers website, priced $6750.
