Fear of identity theft and personal information security threats continue to rise fueling the growth of the biometrics market all over the world. The international Biometric Group (IBG), a New York market research firm, estimates the U$1.6 billion global biometric market will grow to U$5.3 billion by 2010. While many believe the international market growth is slower than adoption in the United States, in fact, the international market is growing at a fast rate and there is something the United States can learn from the overseas acceptance of biometrics.

(Unit : million US Dollar)

	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
South America	137.0	186.7	254.5	345.3	431.7	515.8
Asia-Pacific Rim	372.4	488.4	640.9	836.8	1,006.9	1,158.0
Middle East / India	160.0	226.9	321.0	450.6	581.5	715.9
Europe / Australia	257.0	338.8	446.9	586.7	709.9	821.1
North America	524.8	688.6	904.2	1,181.4	1,422.4	1,637.0
Africa	87.7	126.2	180.8	256.8	334.7	415.8

(Source : IBG, 2005)