Counterfeit goods costing UK economy £9.2bn

In terms of UK imports, the OECD report estimates that fake goods imported to the UK were worth £13.6bn in 2016, equivalent to 3% of genuine imports, up from £9.3bn in 2013. The most common imported fakes include mobile phones and accessories, clothes, footwear, handbags, and games.

The value of counterfeit and pirated British goods sold worldwide was estimated at £16.2bn in 2016, up from £13.4bn in 2013 and equivalent to 3.3% of UK manufacturing sales.

UK goods particularly targeted by counterfeiters include perfumes, cosmetics, clothing, footwear, leather goods, telecoms equipment, electronic goods, cars and motorbikes.

In absolute terms, IT kit, particularly mobile phones and computers, were the most counterfeited type of goods, with an estimated value of £2.5bn of fakes imported to the UK in 2016.

In relative terms, clothing, footwear, leather goods and handbags, and toys and games were the most targeted by counterfeiters, with fakes accounting for 9.3% and 8%, respectively, of UK imports from these product categories.

Overall, this fake trade led to estimated forgone sales by UK businesses £9.2bn, or 2.7% of total sales in the wholesale and retail sector. The total volume of UK companies’ forgone sales due to infringement of their IP rights in global trade amounted to £11bn, up from £8.6bn in 2013.

https://www.accountancydaily.co/counterfeit-goods-costing-uk-economy-ps92bn