Rate of Global Software Piracy in Armenia More than 90%

The rate of global software piracy climbed to 43 percent in 2009, according to the 7th annual Global Software Piracy Study by the Business Software Alliance.

According to the BSA website, “This increase was fueled in large part by expanding PC sales in fast-growing, high-piracy countries and increasing sales to consumers — two market segments that traditionally have higher incidents of software theft. In 2009, for every $100 worth of legitimate software sold, an additional $75 worth of unlicensed software made its way onto the market. There was some progress in 2009 — software rates actually dropped in almost half of the countries examined in this year’s study.”

According to the study, at 64%, pirated software was the most widespread in Central and Eastern European countries, with Georgia occupying the highest piracy rate at 95%.

Following Georgia are Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Moldova, Armenia, Yemen, Sri Lanka and Azerbaijan (in that order). According to the report, the piracy rate in Armenia is more than 90%. 

Microsoft’s Georgia branch, looking into the issue, discovered that the company loses $150 million annually as a result of software piracy.