Global payment card shipments will total 3.029bn in 2022, falling slightly from the total of 3.11bn cards shipped during 2021 because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing disruption to the global chip supply, according to a forecast by ABI Research.

The forecast also predicts that additional capacity will become available at the end of 2023, but that “a recovery to standard issuance levels will likely not become a reality until around 2025, coinciding with the resolution of supply constraints, replenishment of depleted stock and, from 2023, an increase in chip production which will close the gap between demand and supply”.

The decline in shipments in 2022, however, was not as great as originally anticipated because of closer collaboration with issuing banks and the use of existing stock levels to minimise supply impacts, the researchers say.

“Better than expected activity in Latin America, alongside a continuation of low-level growth in Europe, near counterbalanced significant market reductions in North America, which declined year-on-year, driven by the UK and its reissuance cycles.”

ABI Research predicted that chip shortages could prevent the issuance of 1bn payment cards over the course of 18 months in August 2021.

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