New from The Freedonia Group: World Security Equipment Demand to Reach US$74 Billion in 2008.

CLEVELAND -- The global market for security products and systems is projected to advance 8.4 percent per annum through 2008, approaching US$74 billion. Rising crime rates in many countries will be the primary demand driver. While a weak global economy in the years following the September 2001 attacks on the US has not allowed all of the anticipated spending on homeland security to occur, economic expansion should now allow pent-up demand to be worked off. These and other trends are presented in World Security Equipment, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm.

Recovery in the construction business, fueled by a strong global economy, will create incremental demand for locks, alarms, fire extinguishers and other structural security products. At the same time, advancing technologies and moderating prices will continue to enhance the attractiveness of higher-end electronic systems such as closed-circuit television (CCTV), access controls, anti-shoplifting tags and contraband detection devices in both existing and novel applications.

Higher-end electronic systems will log the best gains, based on less penetrated markets, a high pace of new product development, falling prices and the ability to thwart increasing threats ranging from retail shrinkage and school violence to international terrorism. Some of the most favorable prospects exist for color cameras, digital recording devices, wireless and Internet-compatible systems, "smart" radio frequency identification (RFID) electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags and access control cards, biometric identification systems and automated explosive detection devices.

The fastest growth is anticipated in the world's developing regions -- Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Mideast. These areas feature largely unpenetrated private security markets and are characterized by rising crime rates, expanding economies, new business formation activity, heightened foreign investment, emerging middle and upper classes, and privatization of formerly state-owned industries like banking and air travel. China in particular offers tremendous potential; while currently accounting for less than four percent of global demand, its market will more than double by 2008, among the fastest rates of growth in the world.