Global Industry Analysts predicts that the global market for iris biometrics will reach $1.5 billion by 2018, with technology advances and expanding application areas driving that growth.

In its new report “Iris Biometrics: A Global Strategic Business Report,” GIA has found that this form of biometric recognition is starting to see a lot of growth due to its low failure to error rates and high accuracy levels.

While market growth has traditionally comes from technology adoption in the travel and immigration segment and physical access control applications, it has potential for growth in high-end security and access control applications. GIA predicts that national ID programs, banking and financial services and system and access control industries will help drive this growth. Industries where accurate fingerprints are more difficult to collect, such as biomedical labs, coal mines and food processing, are also expected to adopt iris recognition for access control.

GIA has found that the U.S. is the largest global market for iris biometrics, but the Middle East has been growing at a 29.1% CAGR over the analysis period.

The report covers market trends, issues and drivers. It also profiles companies and industry consolidations. It includes market estimates and projections for the U.S., Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America.