PARIS (Reuters) - Counterfeited and pirated goods accounted for up to 2.5 percent of world trade, or as much as $461 billion, significantly damaging companies and state coffers, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Monday.
The trade in fake products such as Louis Vuitton (PA:LVMH) bags or Nike shoes (N:NKE) has also worsened in the past decade, with a previous OECD study in 2008 estimating it at up to 1.9 percent of world imports or $200 billion.
The impact of counterfeiting is greater for rich countries - where most of the companies making the highly desirable branded goods are based - with the European Union importing up to 5 percent of fakes in 2013, or as much as $116 billion.
The Paris-based think-tank said China appeared as the largest producer of counterfeited products, but that the intellectual property rights of Chinese companies had also been frequently infringed.
The OECD cited the post-financial crisis revival in trade, the emergence of globalized value chains and booming e-commerce as reasons for the rise in pirated goods trade since 2008.