Skip to main content

IDTechEx Research: RFID Market to reach US$11.2 billion in 2017

A new report by IDTechEx Research, RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2017-2027, IDTechEx Research, indicates that in 2017, the total RFID market will be worth US$11.2 billion, up from US$10.52 billion in 2016 and US$9.95 billion in 2015. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID labels, cards, fobs and other form factors, for passive and active RFID. In retail, RFID continues to be rolled-out for apparel tagging predominately - that application alone will demand 8.7 billion RFID lab
August 7, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
A new report by 6582 IDTechEx Research, RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2017-2027, IDTechEx Research, indicates that in 2017, the total RFID market will be worth US$11.2 billion, up from US$10.52 billion in 2016 and US$9.95 billion in 2015. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID labels, cards, fobs and other form factors, for passive and active RFID.


In retail, RFID continues to be rolled-out for apparel tagging predominately - that application alone will demand 8.7 billion RFID labels in 2017 - which still has plenty of room for growth since this is less than 20 per cent penetration of the total addressable market for apparel in 2017. In other areas, RFID in the form of tickets used for transit will demand 825 million tags in 2017 and the tagging of animals (such as pigs, sheep and pets) is substantial as it continues to be a legal requirement in many more territories, with 480 million tags being used for this sector in 2017.

In total, IDTechEx expects that 18.2 billion tags will be sold in 2017 versus 15.2 billion in 2016. Most of that growth is from passive UHF (RAIN) RFID labels. However, in 2017 UHF RFID tag sales by value will be 25% of the value of HF tag sales, mainly because HF tags where used for security (such as payments, access etc) have a higher price point versus the cheaper, usually disposable labels used for tagging things.

IDTechEx Research has analysed the RFID market for over 18 years. This report provides detailed data and analysis of the entire sector based on our extensive research including interviews with RFID adopters and solution providers in the various RFID application markets, giving an unprecedented level of insight into the total RFID industry and what is really happening. Predominately, IDTechEx conducts research through interviews with companies across the value chain, site visits and conference visits followed by secondary research.

For UHF, HF and LF data provided includes numbers of tags, average sales price and total tag value for 24 application categories. Interrogator forecasts are broken down by frequency. The total RFID value is given for the eleven largest RFID markets.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Connected vehicles - potential to transform US transportation
    April 12, 2013
    There’s a new face in the driving seat at the US Department of Transport’s ITS Joint Program Office. Fortunately, as Robin Meczes finds out, he’s no learner driver… Ask Kenneth Leonard why he wanted his new job as director of the ITS Joint Program Office, and his answer comes back without a second’s delay. “The potential to save lives, reduce injuries and help people enjoy a more efficient transportation system is the kind of challenge that makes me want to come to work each morning,” he says. “In my opinio
  • Australian road pricing, road funding needs more debate
    January 31, 2012
    Everyone in the road transport industry in Australia is talking road pricing - everyone, that is, except the politicians. Christine Keyes reports. At the end of 2008, Australia's road transport industry was wringing its collective hands, unable to raise more than $100 million from an individual bank for any Public Private Partnership (PPP). The A$750 million Peninsula Link project, announced by the Victoria Government in March 2009, was the first road project in the country to be put out to market as an ava
  • National truck tolling scheme compensates for transit traffic
    July 13, 2012
    Q-Free's Per Frederik Ecker talks about the Slovak Republic's new truck tolling system, which is intended to compensate for the large amounts of transit traffic which passes through the country. In January this year Q-Free, together with Siemens, was awarded the contract to deliver the new national truck tolling scheme in the Slovak Republic. This will be operated by Slovakia SkyToll on a 13-year concession and Q-Free is supplying the central tolling and enforcement system, together with a three-year servic
  • Growth of global connected car M2M connections and services market
    December 17, 2014
    The latest research by ReportsnReports.com, Global Connected Car M2M Connections and Services Market indicates that big data analytics and smart phone apps will foster the growth of the global connected car M2M connections and services market, which will see a 32 per cent CAGR for 2014-2019. According to the report, many big data analytic and automobile companies are joining forces with smart app providers to form partnerships to better understand vehicle performance and automotive businesses. Smart apps