Frontier Economics has released a report at the Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy’s (BASCAP) Sixth Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy concluding that global counterfeiting and piracy rob G20 economies of 2.5 million jobs. This study along with other recent reports demonstrates the dire need for strong enforcement against the global scourge of counterfeiting and piracy for both physical goods and digital products. Clearly, this is a problem that the United States and all countries must work in collaboration to solve. 

The purpose of the report is to provide an update of the OECD’s estimate of the trade in counterfeit and pirated products from 2008 and 2009. The study also aims, using the OECD’s established methodology, to fill in the gaps not addressed in the overall scope of the original study including: (1) the value of domestically consumed counterfeit and pirated products within the G20 markets and; (2) an estimate of the value of digital piracy. 

Much like the OECD study which found that the international trade of counterfeit and pirated goods exceeded $250 billion annually, the conclusions of the Frontier Economics analysis are jaw-dropping. Here are six important facts about counterfeiting and piracy: 

1. Jobs: 2.5 million lost to counterfeiting and piracy in G20 economies.
2. Global economic value of counterfeiting and piracy: $650 billion annually, based on 2008 data.
3. International trade in counterfeit and pirated products: $360 billion annually.
4. Domestic production and consumption of counterfeit and pirated products: $215 billion annually.
5. Global digital piracy: $75 billion annually.
6. Cost to G20 governments and consumers: $125 billion annually, including losses in tax revenue. 

The report also projects that without improved enforcement against IP crimes, a strong crackdown on criminal networks, and laws that remedy counterfeiting and piracy in the physical and digital environment, this problem will continue to grow to astronomical proportions; a total global value of counterfeit and pirated products of $1.77 trillion by 2015--more than the Gross Domestic Product of all of Russia.

All over the country, political and economic leaders are trying to discover a way to produce jobs, grow the economy, and cut the deficit. Policy-makers take note: reducing counterfeiting and piracy can create millions of jobs and generate billions in tax revenue. What are we waiting for?