Industry consulting group IDTechEx forecasts an increase in global spending on RFID technology for 2008, up 7.3 % from last year. They predict a $5.29 billion RFID market in 2008, with China and the United States sharing the title for world’s largest RFID investor.

China led global spending in 2007, due to their huge $6 billion national ID card plan. As the infrastructure to support this project nears completion, and with no projects of a similar scale on the horizon, China’s RFID budget will recede to approximately $1.3billion, or 24.6% of the global market (equal to U.S. spending.)

The two world leaders plan to spend their billions in very different ways, with the Chinese focusing on national ID’s, cash replacement cards and library book tagging; while the U.S. invests in passports, secure access, heavy logistics and non-stop road tolling.

The full report is available for purchase here.