Global Contactless Biometrics Market Set for 18.3% CAGR as Governments and Enterprises Embrace Touchless Security
The global contactless biometrics market is projected to reach USD 81.6 billion by 2032, up from USD 21.5 billion in 2024, growing at a CAGR of 18.3% during 2025–2032. This strong expansion is driven by rising demand for hygienic and secure authentication solutions, increasing security concerns, and supportive government initiatives worldwide. The shift toward digital identity — exemplified by initiatives like making national identity systems contactless (e.g., facial authentication for certain services) — is accelerating adoption across sectors such as banking, finance, government, and airports.
The market is fragmented, with a mix of software, hardware,
and services playing key roles. Among these, software currently commands
the largest share, underscoring the growing importance of flexible, scalable
biometric solutions over standalone devices.
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Key Insights
- The software
component held more than 45% share in 2024, making it the
largest segment — and it is also the fastest-growing category during the
forecast period. This reflects increasing demand for software-driven
biometric solutions that are compatible across diverse devices and
applications.
- In
terms of technology, face recognition dominated in 2024 due
to its reliability, affordability, and wide acceptance. However, iris
recognition is forecast to register the highest growth rate between
2024 and 2032 — this is attributed to its superior security performance,
as iris scans (using infrared imaging) eliminate several limitations
associated with facial recognition.
- From
an end-user perspective, the government sector is the
leading contributor, accounting for around 30% of revenue in 2024. Governments
globally are increasingly deploying contactless biometric systems for
criminal identification, forensics, border security, and public-sector
access control.
- The banking
and financial services (BFSI) sector is also a major adopter.
Institutions in this vertical are rolling out contactless biometric
solutions to strengthen identity verification, prevent fraud, and ensure
secure financial transactions — addressing the inefficiencies of
traditional authentication methods such as PINs, passwords, or tokens.
- On
the regional front, North America remains the largest
market (about 35% share in 2024), driven by high-security demands,
stringent data protection standards, and extensive use in defence,
immigration and border control. At the same time, Asia-Pacific
(APAC) is projected to witness the fastest growth over the
forecast period, backed by rising disposable incomes, rapid
digitalization, growth of fintech, and increasing adoption across
consumer, government, and commercial sectors.
- The
market structure remains fragmented, with a variety of global and
regional vendors — from established players to startups — operating at
different scales. This fragmentation, combined with diverse biometric
technologies and deployment models, creates significant opportunities for
niche innovators and new entrants, especially in emerging regions and
sectors undergoing digital transformation.
- Despite
strong growth prospects, high technology cost remains a
challenge. Advanced sensors — especially iris or retina scanners — and
sophisticated biometric hardware can be expensive to deploy, which may
limit adoption among smaller enterprises or in cost-sensitive markets. Nevertheless,
as adoption scales up and more efficient hardware/software solutions
emerge, costs are expected to decline over time, enabling broader
penetration.
- The
rise of AI and ML technologies is a major enabler for the
market. With increasing smartphone penetration and integrated facial
recognition capabilities, biometric software developers have opportunities
to deliver accurate, scalable, and cost-effective solutions — expanding
use cases beyond traditional security to digital identity, contactless
payments, and access control across industries.
- Among biometric technologies, besides face and iris recognition, the market also includes contactless biometric cards, palm-vein recognition, voice recognition, and contactless fingerprint recognition, offering options to suit various security, convenience, and cost requirements.
- As industries across defense, healthcare, transport, consumer electronics, and BFSI continue digitizing, demand for contactless biometric solutions is poised to grow across use cases: criminal identification & forensics, onboarding & KYC, access control, and secure payments, among others.






