ICT Ireland, a lobby group for the technology sector, says the software piracy rate represents an increase on 2000 of one percentage point and was above the European average of 37 per cent.
Software piracy in the Republic is running at a rate of about 42 per cent and costing the software industry here almost €40 million per year, a report has found.
The report, by ICT Ireland, says an extra 5,000 jobs could be created if there was a major reduction in the use of illegal software.
The piracy rate in Europe ranges from a high of 64 per cent in Greece to 25 per cent in Britain. Of 17 European countries, the Republic has the fifth-highest rate of software piracy, says the report.
"Almost 30,000 people are employed in the software industry in Ireland and, at €8.5 billion, Ireland is the largest exporter of software in the world," said Mr Brendan Butler, director of ICT Ireland.
"The thriving industry is being stymied in its development due to the high level of illegal use of software at home and abroad."
The 10 worst countries in terms of software piracy are: Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Ukraine, Russia, Pakistan, Lebanon, Quatar, Nicaragua and Bolivia, says the report.
An increase in world piracy rates from 37 per cent in 2000 to 40 per cent in 2001 is particularly worrying because the Republic is the software base of Europe and 10 per cent of all Irish exports are software, according to Mr Butler.
