Analysts see strong growth in the worldwide private security market

We reported yesterday that many local police forces are suffering recruiting losses due to both high levels of reserve call-ups and competition from the private security market. Now we can add some hard numbers. According to a new report by Cleveland, Ohio-based Freedonia Group, the global market for private security is expected to increase 7.3 percent annually through 2010 to an estimated $160 billiion, with contract guarding making up approximately 40 percent of the total. The increase is driven by rising concerns about crime and terrorism, and it comes demand within the private prison sector — previously a lucrative area for companies large and small — is on the downswing, with countries such as Canada and New Zealand aggressively revoking such contracts in the face of domestic outrage.

Although Freedonia notes that the market is not increasing as fast as it might otherwise — blame our friends in the video surveillance and access control businesses — it finds strong growth areas in poorer regions of the world where infrastructure cannot support complex technical installations. In addition to stromg growth in the African and Middle Eastern marketplaces, Freedonia sees especially tempting opportunities in India and China. Together the countries account for less than 2 percent of the global market, but they will also see the fastest growth through 2015. China is particular will require large numbers of private security guards due to three factors: a huge increase in foreign investment, skyrocketing building development, and the 2008 Olympics. The United States, however, will continue as the largest single consimer, accounting for 30 percent of global demand.

-read more in this Security Magazine report