In the UHF segment, retail—the largest sector by application volume for tags—continues to drive growth. Apparel and fashion alone will require more than 31 billion RFID tags by 2025, although this figure still represents only 40% of the total addressable market. Likewise, general retail is expected to continue growing, driven by mandates such as Walmart's for tagging products beyond clothing.
In the HF sector, contactless card sales remain the most relevant application, driven by payments, transportation, and access control, with an estimated demand of 3.14 billion cards in 2025. However, IDTechEx anticipates a gradual decline due to replacement by mobile wallets.
In the LF sector, animal tagging (livestock and pets) remains key, as it is mandatory in many regions. Around 930 million LF tags are expected to be used in 2025.
Overall, IDTechEx forecasts sales of approximately 55 billion passive RFID tags in 2025, up from 50 billion in 2024, representing a year-on-year growth of 10%. Most of this increase is attributed to passive UHF tags (RAIN RFID).
Geographic Distribution and Growth Opportunities:
The report analyzes in detail the regional distribution of the passive RFID market across four major areas: the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
