Security Paper Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The security paper market (henceforth, referred to as the market studied) is expected to register a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period 2021 - 2026.

Key Highlights

• With the increasing counterfeit cases in countries, the various governments are seeking innovative ideas for new technologies and methods that could help make banknotes more secure and expected to provide new solutions in the market. Furthermore, the coming trend of paper ballots voting systems in the United States increases the growth of security paper.
• The increase in cases of fraud and counterfeiting is driving the market. According to the Australian government, in FY 2018-2019, 121 applications were not processed on suspicion of dishonesty or fraud, and 255 passports were canceled or refused on national security or law enforcement grounds. Moreover, increased counterfeit in the currency, such as in Canada, the number of counterfeits notes detected in circulation USD 5, USD 10, USD 20, and USD 150 is increasing on a yearly basis. The above factor states that the demand for security paper to prevent counterfeiting drives the market.
• Furthermore, the growth in tourism to increase the demand for visas and passports is driving the market. According to the European Travel Commission, the inbound tourism visitor growth n 2021 will increase highly in Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific with 6%, 5.2%, and 4.7%, respectively. This tends to increase the demand for security paper.
• However, the growth in digitization is challenging the market studied to grow efficiently. The increasing investment in digital transformation by various players in every end-user applications is restraining the market from growing. According to Forbes, about 40% of all technology spending in 2019 went toward digital transformation in the coming future.

Key Market Trends

Currency to Hold Significant Market Share

• With the increasing trend of currency counterfeit in various developed and developing countries, the demand for security paper is increasing, as it has led to the escalation of corruption hindering various country’s growth. The currency is generally manufactured from cotton-fiber paper, polymer, or hybrid paper. This makes banknotes more secure and resistant to wear and tear compared to common paper.
• Paper money tends to be updated with new versions that contain security features and attempt to make it more difficult for counterfeiters to create illegal copies. Banknotes consist of a watermark and thread compromising of fluorescent, magnetic, metallic, and micro print elements. Also, special types of polymers are used for manufacturing banknotes, as they have a better shelf life than paper notes and are resistant to fire and water. Every country has its own type of security features.
• Most of the companies use the cylinder mold technology for three-dimensional, vivid watermarks. This is an exclusive production procedure used only by secure paper manufacturers. Furthermore, Louisenthal offers a banknote substrate portfolio to suit all climates and circulation conditions. These substrates can be integrated with any security feature to ensure protection against counterfeiting. Their cotton-based banknote substrates perfectly suit the requirements typical of the different banknote denominations of a country’s currency.
• Furthermore, bank governments of countries are focusing on producing high-quality security paper currency avoiding counterfeiting. For instance, in July 2019, the Bank of Italy and Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), announced their set up of a new company, Valoridicarta SpA, to produce high-quality watermarked paper with embedded holograms and security features for banknotes and identity documents.
• Furthermore, the Indian currency has the maximum number of security features present, and the latest addition is the anti-photocopying feature, i.e., Omron feature. Due to these security features, they make Indian Rupee less prone to counterfeiting, compared to other country currency notes. However, according to RBI, they detected an increase of 20.2%, 87.2%, and 57.3 % in counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 10, Rs 20, and Rs 50, respectively, in 2019, but counterfeit notes detected in the denomination of Rs 100 declined by 7.5 %. With an increase in value and volume of banknotes on a yearly basis, the increase in counterfeit of various denominations tends to increase, so the market studied with enhanced security is expected to increase.

Asia-Pacific to Witness Significant Market Growth

• The Asia-Pacific security paper market is projected to grow at a significant rate. The growth of the security paper market in the Asia-Pacific region is attributed to the strong demand for security features, such as watermarks, holograms being embedded during the printing stage of banknotes, passports, and stamps, the growing tourism industry, economic stability, increasing incomes, and infrastructure.
• According to the National Immigration Administration (NIA), about 1.05 billion outbound trips were made by Chinese mainland residents from 2009 to 2018, with over 160 million in 2018 alone. Around 13% of the mainland residents have held valid regular passports, and the number has grown approx 200 million at the end of 2019. This instance states the demand for security paper in the passport segment.
• Furthermore, the growth of the market studied in the region is also driven by the increasing demand for banknotes due to the population growth and cash-based economy in some countries such as India and Indonesia. High demand for security papers in the region is attributed to the increased spending on legal services, such as documentation, litigation, and licensing.
• In China, according to the Ministry of Transport of China, there was an increase in the number of drivers of 53 million in 2018, when compared to its previous year. This inhibits the demand for government licenses for which the usage of security paper increased with the demand for natural materials for production, such as cotton and pulp.
• Furthermore, in India, more than 43 lakh cases are pending in 25 high courts in the country, and over 8 lakh of these are over a decade old. With the decreasing number of pending cases, the usage of stamp paper will increase, which effectively increases the growth of the market in stamp security paper.

Competitive Landscape

The market studied is fragmented in nature, due to the presence of both regional and international vendors. Players in the market studied are adopting inorganic growth strategies to implement new security solutions and to share the existing technology for mutual benefit. Key players are Giesecke+Devrient Currency Technology GmbH and Fedrigoni Group. Recent developments in the market studied are -

• February 2020 - Document Security Systems Inc. announced the launch of the company’s AuthentiGuard Security Paper to the general market. It is designed to prevent fraudulent copies and scans, offering eight layered features, ensuring that certificates and documents cannot be tampered with or accurately duplicated.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support